JP3340647B2 - Commuter pass system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a magnetic card used in transportation such as railways, buses, and highways,
The present invention relates to a commuter pass system for processing commuter passes using a C card or a non-contact type IC card.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In public transportation and the like, a commuting / commuting commuter pass system or a coupon system is available as a discount service within a certain period of a certain section. In the commuter pass system, a card is purchased in advance, and it is free to get on and off in a preset section within the validity period. In the coupon system, 11 tickets can usually be purchased at a price of 10 times, and in the case of a coupon card, it is possible to get on and off 11 times at a price of 10 times. That is, in the current ticket system, in the case of a commuter pass, the pass is used throughout the weekdays and holidays until the designated date, regardless of the user's boarding date (use date) and non-use date (for example, holiday). It is stipulated that In the case of coupons, the issue unit number is determined as described above.

[0003] As described above, the conventional commuter pass has a fixed fee regardless of the actual frequency of use, and therefore has a two-day weekly system in which Saturdays are also holidays in addition to Sunday holidays, summer holidays and Golden Week (four days). In consideration of long holidays such as consecutive holidays from the end of the month to the beginning of May) and the year-end and New Year holidays, depending on the season, it may be cheaper to use a coupon ticket, making the commuter pass cheaper.

[0004] In addition, in the case of a coupon, a ticket is required every time a train or the like is boarded, so that a user needs to have at least two coupons a day to use for commuting and commuting. It is troublesome.

[0005] Therefore, for user services, a ticket system has been proposed in which when a boarding section reaches a predetermined number of times using a card-shaped ordinary ticket, coupon processing is performed without reducing the amount of money. (JP-A-5-73744).

[0006] However, in the card in the "ticket system" disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-73744, it is not necessary for the user to have a plurality of cards. It is inexpensive, has little financial merit, and is not sufficient as a service for users.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and provides a service to a user by improving the sense of value of a commuter pass when using a commuter pass. It is an object of the present invention to provide a commuter pass system designed to improve the commuter pass system.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a commuter pass (C3) including usage fee information (C3), which is a usage fee, and freely settable upper limit fee information (C4). C)
In a commuter pass system for processing, a usage fee calculation means (22) for calculating the fee spent by using
Usage fee adding means (24) for adding the fee calculated by the usage fee calculation means (22) to the fee used so far,
An upper limit charge determining means (26) for determining whether the additional charge has reached the upper limit charge recorded as the upper limit charge information (C4), and when the additional charge has not reached the upper limit charge Only a commuter pass system including writing means (14) for writing the added charge on the commuter pass.

The commuter pass includes an IC card and a non-contact type IC card in addition to a magnetic card capable of magnetic recording.

[0010]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The commuter pass of the present invention can use a magnetic card, an IC card, or a non-contact type IC card. In the present embodiment, a commuter pass using a magnetic card will be described. FIG. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of an automatic ticket gate 10.

The automatic ticket gate 10 includes a reader 12 for reading magnetic data of a commuter pass C inserted in the ticket gate body.
A writing device 14 for writing boarding station information and usage fee information to be described later, a control device 16 for performing signal processing based on information read from the commuter pass C, and an automatic ticket gate 1
And a door driving device 18 for driving the opening / closing door of No. 0. The control device 16 comprises a CPU.

FIG. 2 shows the types of information recorded on the commuter pass C used in the present invention. The commuter pass C
Is used section information C1 in which station information of the used section is recorded.
And validity period information C2, which is a usable period, is magnetically recorded. In addition, usage fee information C3, which is a normal fee when the train has been used so far, and upper limit fee information C4, which is set in advance, are stored. Are written as magnetic information. The upper limit charge usually means a sale fee of a commuter pass, that is, a regular fee. It is possible.

FIG. 3 shows functional blocks of the control device 16 shown in FIG. In FIG. 3, the control device 16
It has a validity determination unit 20, a usage fee calculation unit 22, a usage fee addition unit 24, and an upper limit fee determination unit 26.

The validity judging section 20 reads the information of the commuter pass C shown in FIG. 2 by the reader 12, and determines whether or not the commuter pass C is valid based on the use section information C1 and the validity period information C2. Is determined. If it is determined that it is not valid, a signal is sent to the door driving device 18 to close the door of the automatic ticket gate.

The usage fee calculating section 22 calculates the usage fee from the boarding station to the getting off station based on the boarding station information written in the commuter pass when entering by the automatic ticket gate.
This usage fee is not based on the regular fee, but is calculated based on the fare of the ordinary ticket.

The usage fee adding unit 24 adds the usage fee calculated by the usage fee calculation unit 22 to the usage fee recorded so far recorded in the commuter pass C shown in FIG. The added charge is compared with the upper limit charge read by the reading device 12 in the upper limit charge determination unit 26, and it is determined whether the added charge has reached the upper limit charge. If the additional fee does not reach the upper limit fee, the additional fee is written by the writing device 14 into the usage fee information C3 of the commuter pass C shown in FIG.
Is written to. That is, the usage fee calculated from the boarding station information is charged to the usage fee information C3.

For example, if the commuter pass fee between Station A and Station C for one month is 10,000 yen, conventionally,
The fee is fixed at 10,000 yen even if the commuter pass is used or even if you get off at station B, which is a station on the way. However, in the present invention, the fee is added for the number of times of use between the stations A to C. That is, between station A and station B, or B
Even when the station is used between the station and the station C, the charge for the section is added. However, if the total is less than 10,000 yen, for example, 8,000 yen,
1000 yen will be charged, and the user will pay only the amount of 8,000 yen, but if the total has reached 10,000 yen, the user will be unconditionally charged 1 Pay 10,000 yen. In other words, depending on the season, it is cheaper than the commuter pass fee, and it is a customer service.

FIG. 4 shows the flowchart of FIG. 3, and the commuter pass system of the present invention will be described with reference to this flowchart.

In step (hereinafter referred to as ST) 100, the writing information of commuter pass C is read by reading device 12. In ST102, it is determined whether or not the commuter pass C is valid based on the use section information and the validity period information of the read information. If it is not valid, the door of the automatic ticket gate 10 is closed to prevent the passenger from passing. If it is valid, the process proceeds to ST104.

In ST104, the usage fee from the boarding station to the getting off station is calculated. For example, the commuter pass is used from station A to
In the case of C station, if the boarding station is A station and the getting off station is B station, a charge of 160 yen will be calculated, and if the boarding station is A station and the getting off station is C station, a charge of 180 yen will be calculated. calculate. This calculated usage fee is added to the fee used up to now in ST106. That is, the usage fee used this time is added to the usage fee written in the commuter pass C.

In ST108, the added fee is
A comparison is made with the upper limit fee, which is the commuter pass fee recorded on commuter pass C, to determine whether or not the additional fee has reached the upper limit fee. If the maximum charge has not yet been reached, ST1
Proceeding to 10, the fee is rewritten as the additional fee in the usage fee information C3 of the commuter pass C. However, if the additional fee has reached the upper limit fee, the usage fee information C3 is not further rewritten.

As described above, according to the present invention, since only the fee used within the commuter pass fee is paid, the post-pay card (post-pay card) method is basically used. In, if each company and the railway company etc. make a contract, the railway company etc. only has to bill each company, and the railway company side can avoid the risk of non-payment etc. . In addition, for companies, there is an advantage that transportation costs paid to employees can be saved depending on the time.

In this embodiment, the commuter pass is described as a magnetic card, but it goes without saying that the commuter pass can also be used in an IC card or a non-contact type IC card.

Further, the commuter pass system according to the present invention can be used not only for the railway business described in the embodiment but also for buses and expressways.

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention, the conventional commuter pass fee equivalent is set as the upper limit fee, and if it is less than that amount, only the usage fee is paid. Since the same commuter pass fee may be paid, if the number of uses is small depending on the season, a fee appropriate for the use may be paid, and the commuter pass does not feel expensive and the service of the user is improved.

In the commuter pass system of the present invention, the upper limit charge can be freely set according to the frequency of use of the commuter pass by the user, and a minimum charge (minimum charge) can also be set. Therefore, not only two types of commuter pass and commuter pass as in the conventional commuter pass, but also a variety of commuter pass types can be widened, and the service for users can be improved accordingly.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an automatic ticket gate as one embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a commuter pass used in the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of a control device that performs processing in the commuter pass system of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 12 reading device 14 writing device 16 control device 20 validity determination unit 22 usage fee calculation unit 24 usage fee addition unit 26 upper limit fee determination unit C commuter pass

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] [Claim 1] Usage fee information (C3), which is the usage fee
A commuter pass system for processing a commuter pass (C) that includes a freely settable upper limit fee information (C4), and a usage fee calculation means ( 22); a usage fee adding unit (24) for adding the fee calculated by the usage fee calculation unit (22) to the fee used so far; and the additional fee is recorded as the upper limit fee information (C4). An upper limit charge determining means (26) for determining whether or not the upper limit charge has been reached; and only when the additional charge does not reach the upper limit charge, the additional charge is written on the commuter pass. And a writing means (14).