JP3066348B2 - Card type vending machine - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a magnetic card which, when a magnetic card is inserted, reads a card amount stored therein and sells the product in accordance with the card amount. The present invention relates to a card-type vending machine in which the remaining balance is written as a new card amount on the magnetic card and returned.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In such a card type vending machine,
If the card amount is insufficient for the selling price of the product, the card cannot be used, so it is necessary to settle this amount for the customer. For this reason, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Sho 62-248091 discloses a switch for adding the remaining amount of money to a card. When it is detected that the switch has been operated, the first card is stored in a storage and the second card is stored. 2 when the card is inserted
A configuration is disclosed in which the total amount of both is recorded and returned on the first card.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-248089 discloses that when a second card is inserted after a first card, the first card is introduced into a storage and both A configuration is disclosed in which sales are controlled based on the total amount of cards.

[0004]

However, according to the former prior art, there is a drawback that if the user tries to purchase a product with the total amount recorded on the second card, the card must be inserted again. . Although such a drawback is prevented by the latter conventional technique, when a plurality of cards are sequentially inserted, there is a disadvantage that the sequentially added total amount is recorded on the card. A serious problem occurs when a malfunction occurs.

In the case where the second card inserted is an invalid card, the first card must be returned promptly. There is a problem that the first card is taken into the storage at the time of the completion and cannot be returned.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a card-type vending machine that permits the insertion of a second card only when the card amount is less than the maximum commodity selling price.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a discriminating means for discriminating whether the amount of a first magnetic card inserted is less than a maximum selling price,
Card insertion control means for permitting the insertion of the second card when the card amount is less than the maximum selling price, and notification means for notifying that the insertion of the second card is possible,
When the second card is inserted, a processing means for calculating the total amount of the first and second cards and holding the same in preparation for the selling operation, and the inserted card cannot be returned
The present invention provides a card-type vending machine provided with a printer for printing a card amount of the card in such a case .

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a card processing apparatus 29, in which an insertion slot 1 for receiving a card therein is provided in the upper part in a horizontal direction. It is connected to the transport path 3 through a bent portion 2 for turning in the vertical direction. The transport path 3 is formed so as to guide a card downward from a set of substrates. The transport path 3 is provided with a transport device 6 for transporting the card in the vertical direction.
Denotes a pair of pulleys 7A and 7B, pulleys 8A and 8B, pulleys 9A and 9B, and pulleys 10A and 10B
And the belt 11. Each pulley is rotatably supported by a fixed plate or a movable plate, and the belt 11 is mounted on the pulleys 7A, 8A, 9A, and 10A. Such a transport device 6 is driven by transmitting the rotational force of a motor capable of rotating forward and reverse to the pulley 8A. A magnetic head for reading information from the card and recording the information on the card is provided in the middle of the transport path 3.

The pressing roller 17 presses the card passing through the transport path 3 against the magnetic head 16. A storage 13 for collecting unnecessary cards is disposed behind the transport path 3.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of an embodiment for controlling the vending machine.
PU and 22 are ROM, 23 is RAM and 24 is an I / O interface, which are connected by an address bus 25 and a data bus 16. Card processing device 29,
The vending device 27, the selection device 28, the second card insertion switch 30A, the notification device 31, and the display device 32 are connected to the CPU 21 via the I / O interface 24.
The CPU 21 controls these operations based on a program recorded in the ROM 22.

The card processing unit 29 reads card information or writes information to a card, returns an inserted card, and takes it into the storage 13 in accordance with a control signal given from the CPU 21. The selection device 28 includes a plurality of selection switches according to the type of product to be sold, and outputs a predetermined selection signal to the CPU 21 in response to a selection operation by a customer. When the CPU 21 determines that the product indicated by the selection signal can be sold at the price of the card,
A control signal is given to the selling device 27 to control the selling operation of the product.

The notification device 31 responds to a control signal from the CPU 21 to notify the customer that a second card can be inserted. In this embodiment, the notification device 31 includes a buzzer and an LED indicator. Second card insertion switch 3
0A is operated when a customer inserts a second card. When the switch 30A is operated in a state where a second card can be inserted, the CPU 21 waits for insertion of a second card. I do. Then, the card return switch 30B is operated by the customer requesting the return of the inserted card. The display device 32 displays the card balance information given from the CPU 21, and the printer 33 prints out the money amount information given from the CPU 21.

Card 1 to be inserted into card processing device 29
As shown in FIG. 8, reference numeral 2 denotes specific data 4 for distinguishing from the other card systems in the magnetic stripe portion 20.
0, operator code 42, amount data 43 indicating the monetary value of the card, and usage count data 4
An area for recording 1 or the like is set. The specific data of this example is composed of three characters “TSE”, and when this data changes to “TSe”, it becomes processing data indicating that the card is being processed. This is to deal with a case where an inserted card is illegally returned. That is, when a card is inserted and card information is read by the card processing device 29, the CPU 21
Checks whether the specific code 40 is "TSE" and whether the operator code 42 is normal, and determines the appropriateness of the card. If the card is appropriate, the card controller 29 controls the card processor 29 to process the card. The data “TSe” is recorded. If the card is pulled back in this state, since the data being processed is recorded on this card, it cannot be used and fraud is prevented.

The operation will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. First, when a card is inserted in step S1,
At the next S2 step, the CPU 21
To read the card information of the inserted card. In the next step S3, the card information read by the card
Record in AM23.

In step S4, the CPU 21 determines whether the inserted card is a valid card based on the read card information. This determination is based on the correct specific data 4 in the card information.
This is performed by determining whether 0 or the operator code 42 is included. Specific data 40 and operator code 42
Is incorrect, the CPU 21 sends a control signal to the card processing device 29 to return the inserted card. In the next S5 step, it is determined whether or not the data under processing is included in the card information. In the case of a normal card, since the specific data, that is, “TSE” is recorded, the CPU 2
The process of 1 proceeds to step S6. However, if the in-process data “TSe” is set, this card will be returned.

In step S6, the specific data “TSE” of the card information stored in the RAM 23 is changed to “TSE”.
e ". Then, in step S7, the CPU 21
The card information is output to the card processing device 29 to record the card information. At this time, only the specific data of the card information is changed to the data being processed, and the other data is recorded with the same contents as at the time of reading.

In the next step S8, the amount data of the read card information is output to the display device 32, and the remaining amount of the inserted card is displayed on the display means 32. And CPU2
In the next step S9, 1 determines whether or not the remaining amount of the card is less than the price of the highest price product. The selling price of the product to be sold is stored in the RAM 23 in advance, and the CPU 21 compares the maximum selling price with the remaining amount of the card. First, the process of step S43 (FIG. 7) is performed. This S4
In three steps, the CPU 21 sets the card return switch 3
It is determined whether 0B has been operated, and if the return switch 30B has been operated, the process proceeds to step S46. If the return switch 30B has not been operated, the CPU 21 proceeds to S4.
Proceed to 4 steps. In this S44 step, C
When the PU 21 receives a selection signal from the selection device 28, the PU 21 can sell the product indicated by the selection signal,
The selling operation is performed by giving a control signal to the selling device 27, and when the selling ends, the process proceeds to the next S45 step. If the selection signal is not generated from the selection device 2, or if the product cannot be sold even if the selection signal is generated, the process proceeds to step S43.

S45, which is the processing when the sale is performed
In step S4, the change is calculated. In step S46, the amount data of the card information stored in the RAM 23 is rewritten to the change amount. Subsequently, in step S47, the CPU 21 adds 1 to the number-of-times data 41 in the card information stored in the RAM 23, and proceeds to step S48. In step S48, the processing data "TSe" of the card information is changed to the specific data [TSE] to reset the processing data. The in-process data is reset also when the inserted card is returned.
In the next step S49, the CPU 21 gives the card information to the card processing device 29 and records it on the card, and then returns the card. Therefore, if the card has been sold, the card count information 41 and the amount data 43 of the card information are updated and the card is returned.

If it is determined in step S9 that the card information is less than the maximum selling price, the CPU
21 allows the insertion of the second card, and the processing of the CPU 21 proceeds to step S10. In this S10 step,
The CPU 21 supplies a control signal to the notifying device 31, and the notifying device 31 notifies the customer that the second card can be inserted by blinking the LED indicator and driving the buzzer.
In the next step S11, the CPU 21 determines whether or not the second card insertion switch 30A has been operated, and if it has been operated, the process proceeds to step S14 (FIG. 4).

If the second card insertion switch 30A is not operated, the processing of the CPU 21 proceeds to step S12.
In step S12, when the CPU 21 inputs a selection signal from the selection device 28, if the product indicated by the selection signal is less than the card amount and is available for sale, the CPU 21 provides a control signal to the sales device 27 to perform a sales operation. When the sales are completed, the process proceeds to step S46 to perform post-sale processing. If the card is not to be sold, the process proceeds to step S13, where the CPU 21 determines whether the card return switch 30B has been operated, and if so, the process proceeds to step S48 to return the card. If the sale is not performed and the return switch 30B is not operated, the process of the CPU 21 proceeds to S9.
The process returns to the step, and waits until the second card insertion switch 30A is operated, a selling operation is performed, or the return switch 30B is operated.

When the second card insertion switch 30A is operated and the operation proceeds to step S14, the CPU 21 sends the notification device 3
The output of the control signal to 1 is stopped, and both the LED indicator and the buzzer are disabled. In the next step S15, the CPU 21 determines whether a second card has been inserted into the card processing device 29. If the second card has not been inserted, the process proceeds to step S16. In step S16, when the CPU 21 inputs a selection signal from the selection device 28, if the product indicated by the selection signal is less than the card amount and is available for sale, the CPU 21 provides a control signal to the sales device 27 to sell the product. When the sales are completed, the process proceeds to step S46 in order to perform post-sale processing. This S1
In the six-step selling operation, the customer operates the switch 30A to insert the second card, but changes his mind and does not insert the second card, but purchases with the amount of the already inserted card. Occurs when selecting a possible product.

If the card is not to be sold, the process proceeds to step S17, where the CPU 21 sets the card return switch 30
It is determined whether or not B has been operated, and if it has been operated, the process proceeds to S48 to return the card.

When the second card insertion switch 30A is operated and the second card is inserted, the process proceeds to step S18. In step S18, the CPU 21 sets 1
Card processing device 2 for guiding the second card to storage 13
9, a second card is taken in in conjunction with this operation, and the magnetic head 16 reads the card information of the second card. Next S1
In the ninth step, the CPU 21 starts a timer operation. In step S20, the CPU 21 reads the card information of the second inserted card by the card processing device 29, and stores the card information read by the card processing device 29 in the RAM 23 in step S21.

In the next step S22, the CPU 21 determines from the read card information whether the second card to be inserted is a valid card or not.
Is determined from If the second card is an invalid card,
The process of the CPU 21 proceeds to step S36 (FIG. 6). In the next step S23, it is determined whether or not the card information contains data being processed. If the data contains data being processed, the card has been illegally returned.
The process of the PU 21 proceeds to S36.

If the inserted card of the second card is a valid card and does not include the data being processed, the process proceeds to step S24 (FIG. 5).

In step S24, the CPU 2
1 converts the specific data “TSE” in the card information of the second card stored in the RAM 23 into “TSe”. Then, in step S25, the CPU 21 outputs the card information to the card processing device 29 and records the card information on the second card. Therefore, as with the first card, only the specific data of the card information is rewritten to the data being processed and recorded on the second card.

In the next step S26, the CPU 21 adds the amount of the second card to the amount of the first card stored in the RAM 23 and stores the sum in the RAM 23. The amount data is given to the display device 32 to display the total amount.
When the CPU 21 inputs a selection signal from the selection device 28 in step S28, if the product indicated by the selection signal is less than the total amount of the first and second cards and is available for sale, the sale is performed. A control signal is given to the device 27 to perform a selling operation. When the selling is completed, the process proceeds to step S29 to perform post-sale processing. In this S29 step, the CPU 21 calculates the money, and in the next S30 step, the money amount data in the card information of the second card stored in the RAM 23 is rewritten to the change amount.

In step S33, the CPU 21 resets the processing data by changing the processing data "TSe" to the specific data "TSE" in the card information of the second card. In the next S35 step, the CPU 2
Reference numeral 1 denotes the card processing device 29 which stores the card information of the second card.
And record it on the card, and then return this second card.

If the sale is not performed in step S28, the process proceeds to step S31, and the CPU 21 determines whether the card return switch 30B has been operated.
If the return switch 30B has not been operated, the processing of the CPU 21 returns to step S28. On the other hand return switch 3
0B is operated, in the next S32 step, the CPU 2
1 sets the total amount of the first and second cards in the card information of the second card stored in the RAM 23, and proceeds to the next step S33. And after that, S3
Steps S3, S34, and S35 are processed, and the total amount of the second card, one updated use count data, and specific data “TSE” are recorded and returned.

When the CPU 2 determines that the inserted second card is an invalid card in step S22, or when data being processed is recorded on the second card.
1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 3D.
In this case, the first card has already been introduced into the storage 13 because the second card has been loaded into the card processing device 29.

In step S36, the CPU 21 supplies a control signal to the card processing device 29 to control the return of the second card. In the next step S37, it is determined whether or not the timer time started in step S19 has expired, and if the timer time has not expired, the flow proceeds to step S39. In step S39, it is determined whether or not a new second card has been inserted. If the second card has been inserted, the process proceeds to step S19 (FIG. 3B), and the CPU 21 performs a process for the new second card. If a new second card has not been inserted, the process of the CPU 21 proceeds to step S40. In step S40, when the CPU 21 inputs a selection signal from the selection device 28, if the commodity indicated by the selection signal is less than the card amount of the first card already taken in and is available for sale, the sale is started. Device 27
To the selling operation by giving a control signal to the CPU, and when the selling is completed, the process proceeds to step S41 in order to perform post-sale processing. The selling operation in this step S40 is performed as follows: the customer inserts the second card, but the card is unusable.
Occurs when an item that can be purchased with the card amount of the first card is selected. If this sale is not performed, the process returns to step S37.

When the sale is performed and the processing in step S41 is performed, the CPU 21 calculates the balance by subtracting the sales amount from the card amount of the first card. In the next step S42, the balance information and the date and time are calculated by the printer 33. Give to. As a result, the printer 33 prints out the information, and the vending machine records the fact that the vending machine has already sold the card with the first card that cannot be returned and the balance that must be returned to the customer, It can respond to customers' clearing requests.

However, if there is no new second card inserted within the timer time, the CPU 21 proceeds to step S38. In this step, the CPU 21 provides the printer 33 with information on the card amount and the date and time of the first card that has already been captured and cannot be returned. In this case, the customer has not purchased the product with the first card, and the card amount is printed out as it is, so that the customer can cope with the clearing request.

The above-described vending machine enables the insertion of a second card when there is a product that cannot be purchased because the amount of the first card is less than the maximum selling price.

When the second card can be inserted, the notification device 31 operates to notify the customer of the fact, so that the customer can surely know that the second card can be used. As a result, it is possible to promptly respond to the purchase of a product whose selling price is equal to or more than the card amount of the first card, for example, a product having the highest selling price.

When the second card is inserted, 1
Because you can purchase products with the total amount of the first and second cards, and only allow the insertion of the second card when the card amount of the first card is less than the maximum selling price In addition, it is possible to prevent a plurality of cards from being sequentially inserted, so that a large amount of money is not written on one card. As a result, if an accident occurs after returning the card, damage can be minimized.

If the second card cannot be used, the amount of the first card is printed out by the print 33, so that the first card is taken into the storage 13, and thereafter, If you have to return the card amount of the first card to the customer who used the card, this card amount will be printed out,
Since the record is visually retained, it is possible to provide a highly reliable vending machine that can effectively deal with the customer and does not cause anxiety to the customer.

Further, a second card input switch 30A
When the first card is operated, the first card is not taken into the storage 13 and will not be returned to the customer, and the first card will not be returned to the storage 13 until the second card is inserted. The customer accidentally operates the second card insertion switch 30A even though the customer does not have the second card, or feels after operating the second card insertion switch 30A. Even if the second card is not inserted, the first valid card will not be unreturnable unless the second card is inserted, and the customer will not be bothered.

[0039]

According to the present invention, since the insertion of the second card is permitted only under the condition that the card amount of the first card is less than the maximum selling price, a large amount of money is blindly added to one card. Can be prevented from being written, and damage in the event of an accident can be minimized.
Also, when the card amount of the first card is less than the maximum selling price, the card insertion control means allows the insertion of the second card and surely knows that the insertion of the second card is possible. As a result, it is possible to quickly respond to the purchase of a product whose selling price is equal to or more than the card amount of the first card, for example, a product having the highest selling price.
Furthermore, after the first card is taken into the storage,
Even if the second card is inserted and cannot be used, the card amount of the first card is printed out by the printer, so that the customer does not feel uneasy.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a structural diagram of a card processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a control circuit diagram of the card type vending machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an operation.

FIG. 8 is a diagram schematically showing a recording format of a card.

[Explanation of symbols]

 13 Storage 21 PCU 22 ROM 23 RAM 29 Card processing device

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G07F 7/08

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] When a magnetic card is inserted, a card amount stored therein is read, and when a product sales operation is performed in accordance with the card amount, a remaining amount obtained by subtracting the sales amount from the card amount is used as a new card. In a card-type vending machine in which the amount is written on the magnetic card and returned, the discriminating means for determining whether the card amount of the inserted first magnetic card is less than the maximum selling price, Card insertion control means for permitting insertion of a second card when the price is less than the maximum selling price, notification means for notifying that the second card can be inserted, and insertion of the second card Then, processing means for calculating the total amount of the card amounts of the first and second cards and holding the same in preparation for the selling operation, and, when the inserted card cannot be returned, Card type automatic vending machine, characterized in that it includes a printer for printing the over de amount.