JP5167757B2 - Automatic ticket gate - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an automatic ticket gate apparatus installed at a railway station, and more particularly to an automatic ticket gate apparatus that handles a reusable IC card type ticket.

  Station automatic ticket gates handle various types of tickets, such as regular tickets, coupon tickets, commuter passes, and prepaid cards. However, commuter passes and prepaid cards are moving to IC cards. Non-contact type IC chips and antennas (coils) are mainly used. On the other hand, conventional magnetic tickets are still widely used as single passenger tickets. For this reason, recent automatic ticket gates are configured to process both non-contact recording media and magnetic recording media. That is, an antenna for reading and recording information on a non-contact recording medium such as a commuter pass and a prepaid card, and a magnetic head for reading and recording information on a magnetic recording medium such as a regular ticket And are provided.

  By the way, ordinary tickets that are used only once are collected after use and recycled as resources. However, when it is recycled as a resource, it actually has a negative impact on the environment because it emits greenhouse gases and uses a large amount of clean water. Therefore, in the railway industry, it is drawing attention that the ticket is reused as it is. However, in order to reuse the collected ticket, it is necessary to convert the ticket into an IC card. However, in the present situation where automatic ticket gates that are compatible with magnetic tickets are widely used, a normal ticket is used as a magnetic ticket. In order to switch from an IC card to an IC card, the automatic ticket gate must be remodeled, and enormous capital investment is required.

  Patent Document 1 below discloses an automatic ticket gate that can collect and reuse a normal ticket. In this document, the ticket gate information is read from a wireless card held over an antenna to determine whether or not a user can pass and whether or not to collect the wireless card. If the wireless card is a regular ticket and it is determined that it needs to be collected, the card insertion is guided, and when the insertion is detected, the wireless card is transported to the position of the antenna provided inside the automatic ticket gate. . Then, information is read from the wireless card via this antenna, and if it is abnormal, the card is returned to the return port and the door is closed, and if normal, the card is collected and the door is opened.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-326053

  According to Patent Document 1 described above, when a normal ticket is constituted by a non-contact card (wireless card), the card can be reliably collected. However, the normal ticket is a magnetic ticket, and a commuter pass or prepaid card is used. For the current automatic ticket gates that are operated so that both of them can be processed as contactless cards, a contactless card inserted from the slot is separated from the antenna for reading the contactless card. It is necessary to separately arrange an antenna for reading inside the apparatus. For this reason, it is necessary to remodel the automatic ticket gate device, and there is a problem that the cost increases.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to make it possible to collect and reuse a ticket made of a non-contact recording medium using an existing automatic ticket gate.

In the present invention, the non-contact reading means that is provided in a position where the boarding ticket is placed and reads the medium information recorded on the boarding ticket in a non-contact manner, and the medium that is magnetically recorded on the boarding ticket inserted from the slot In an automatic ticket gate having a magnetic reading means for reading information and a passability determination means for determining whether or not a user can pass based on non-contact reading means or medium information read by the magnetic reading means, the non-contact reading means A collection necessity determination means for determining whether or not the ticket is to be collected is provided from the read medium information. Then, when the collection necessity determination unit determines that the collection is necessary, the passability determination unit obtains the information included in the first medium information read by the non-contact reading unit and the first medium information by the non-contact reading unit. After reading, it is determined whether or not at least a part of the information included in the second medium information read by the magnetic reading means matches from the ticket inserted from the insertion slot. Judged as one boarding ticket possessed by one user, and determines whether one user can pass. On the other hand, when the passenger's ticket is placed over the non-contact reading means and then the next passenger's ticket is inserted from the slot, the recovery necessity determining means determines that the passenger's ticket is not recovered. when, passing determination means, based on the first medium information read by the non-contact reading means from tickets preceding visitor, determines the passage propriety of the preceding visitor, read first medium information in a non-contact reading means After that, based on the second medium information read by the magnetic reading means from the next passenger's ticket inserted from the insertion slot, it is determined whether or not the next passenger can pass.

If it does in this way, based on the 1st medium information which the non-contact reading means read from the held ticket and the 2nd medium information which the magnetic reading means read from the board ticket inserted from the slot after that Therefore, even if the non-contact reading means different from the above non-contact reading means is not provided inside the automatic ticket gate, the ticket needs to be collected like a normal ticket. If it is, the two pieces of medium information read can be used to determine whether one user can pass or not, and the ticket can be collected if passage is permitted. In addition, if the ticket is one that does not require collection like a commuter pass or a prepaid card, whether or not one user can pass is determined only by the first medium information read by the non-contact reading means, since the magnetic reading means after this read when reading the second medium information, traffic whether subsequent user is determined based only on the second medium information, boarding consisting of a non-contact recording medium of the previous customer Even if a ticket consisting of the magnetic recording medium of the next customer is inserted after the ticket, the first and second medium information is mistaken as information read from the same ticket, and as one user there is no possibility that will determine the passage propriety, it is possible to reliably isolate the previous customers and Tsugikyaku.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the ticket that is determined to be required for recovery by the recovery necessity determination means is a normal ticket, a coupon ticket, or an admission ticket made of a non-contact IC card, and the first medium information Is stored, and a magnetic recording area in which second medium information is stored. Further, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the passability determination means is included in the medium ID included in the first medium information read by the non-contact reading means and the second medium information read by the magnetic reading means. It is determined whether or not the medium ID matches. If both the medium IDs match, it is determined that the boarding ticket is one boarding ticket possessed by one user.

  According to the present invention, even when a ticket that needs to be collected is configured with a non-contact recording medium, there is no need to separately provide non-contact reading means inside the automatic ticket gate, so that an existing automatic ticket gate is used. The ticket can be collected and reused.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a side view showing an example of an automatic ticket gate 100 according to the present invention. 1 is a main body of the automatic ticket gate apparatus 100, 2 is a side plate provided on the side of the main body 1, 3 is a gate door provided on the ticket gate side and the bill collection side of the automatic ticket gate apparatus 4, and 4 is a plurality for human detection. Sensor. Although illustration is omitted, the side plate 2 is also provided with a plurality of human position tracking sensors arranged in a straight line in the passing direction.

  Reference numeral 5 denotes an antenna that communicates with a boarding ticket made of a non-contact recording medium, and is provided at a position near the entrance of the automatic ticket gate 100 where the boarding ticket is held. 6 is a slot for inserting a ticket to be collected (ordinary ticket, etc.), 7 is a transport roller for transporting the ticket inserted from the slot 6, and 8 is a ticket inserted from the slot 6. Among these, a magnetic head for reading medium information recorded on a magnetic ticket. 9 is a flapper (sorting member) for distributing the ticket transported by the transport roller 7 to the return side and the collection side, 10 is a discharge port from which the returned ticket is discharged, and 11 is for the passenger It is a display unit that displays various messages.

  FIG. 2 shows a view of the vicinity of the magnetic head 8 as viewed from above. The magnetic head 8 includes a pair of head portions 8a and 8b arranged with a predetermined gap G therebetween.

  In FIG. 2A, reference numeral 20 denotes an ordinary ticket (hereinafter referred to as “IC ticket”) composed of a non-contact IC card, which is an IC chip 21 in which medium information is stored, and a magnetic field in which the medium information is stored. And a recording area 22. The medium information includes information such as the date of issue, boarding section, boarding station, etc., in addition to the medium type and medium ID. The IC chip 21 is provided in a region corresponding to the gap G so as not to be sandwiched between the transport roller 7 (FIG. 1) and the head portions 8a and 8b. The IC ticket 20 is placed over the antenna 5 shown in FIG. 1 and then inserted through the insertion slot 6, and is conveyed by the conveyance roller 7 along the conveyance path 12 in the direction of the arrow as shown in FIG. Pass through. At this time, the medium information stored in the magnetic recording area 22 is read by the head portions 8 a and 8 b of the magnetic head 8. Here, the magnetic recording region 22 is provided on almost the entire surface of the IC ticket 20 here, but may be provided partially like a magnetic stripe. In this case, the medium information recorded on the magnetic stripe is read by one of the head portions 8a and 8b.

  In FIG. 2B, reference numeral 30 denotes an ordinary ticket (hereinafter referred to as “magnetic ticket”) made of a magnetic ticket, on which medium information is magnetically recorded. The magnetic ticket 30 is loaded from the loading slot 6 in FIG. 1 and is then conveyed in the direction of the arrow by the conveying roller 7 in a state of being brought to one side of the conveying path 12 as shown in FIG. 2B. Pass 8 At this time, the medium information is read by the head portion 8 a of the magnetic head 8.

  As described above, the IC ticket 20 and the magnetic ticket 30 are used in combination as a normal ticket, while it is relatively easy to introduce an automatic ticket vending machine corresponding to the IC ticket 20 at a large station. This is because it is not always easy to introduce such an automatic ticket vending machine at a station, and the fact that only a magnetic ticket is often sold by a conventional automatic ticket vending machine is taken into consideration.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the automatic ticket gate apparatus 100. Reference numeral 50 denotes a CPU as a control unit that controls the operation of the automatic ticket gate 100. Reference numeral 51 denotes a storage unit including a memory such as a RAM or a ROM. The storage unit 51 stores medium information read from the boarding ticket, an operation program of the CPU 50, various control parameters, and the like. A display unit 52 includes the display unit 11 shown in FIG. 1 and other display units. 53 is a host communication unit that communicates with a host device (not shown) that is a host device, and 54 is a power supply unit that supplies power to each unit of the automatic ticket gate 100.

  Reference numeral 55 denotes a door drive unit for driving the gate door 3 of FIG. 1, and is composed of a door opening / closing motor, a motor drive circuit, and the like. A human detection unit 56 includes the sensor 4 shown in FIG. 1 and other sensors. Reference numeral 57 denotes a magnetic reading unit that reads medium information magnetically recorded on the ticket, and includes the magnetic head 8 shown in FIG. 1 and a circuit that processes a signal read by the magnetic head 8. A non-contact reading unit 58 includes the antenna 5 shown in FIG. 1 and a circuit for processing a signal read by the antenna 5. The non-contact reading unit 58 performs wireless communication with the non-contact IC card 59 via the antenna 5 and reads the medium information recorded on the IC chip of the non-contact IC card 59 in a non-contact manner. The non-contact IC card 59 includes the IC ticket 20 described above, an existing IC commuter pass, an IC prepaid card, and the like.

  In the above, the non-contact reading unit 58 including the antenna 5 constitutes one embodiment of the non-contact reading unit in the present invention, and the magnetic reading unit 57 including the magnetic head 8 is one embodiment of the magnetic reading unit in the present invention. The CPU 50 constitutes one embodiment of the passage permission / inhibition determining means and the collection necessity determining means in the present invention.

  4 and 5 are flowcharts showing the procedure of the ticket collection process in the automatic ticket gate 100. FIG.

  In FIG. 4, in step S <b> 1, the boarding ticket is received by holding the boarding ticket over the antenna 5 or through the slot 6. When the boarding ticket is accepted, the type of the accepted boarding ticket is then determined in step S2.

  If it is determined in step S2 that the boarding ticket is a magnetic ticket ("magnetic" in step S2), the process proceeds to step S3, and medium information magnetically recorded on the boarding ticket is read via the magnetic head 8. Then, based on the read information, it is determined in step S4 whether or not the boarding ticket is valid. If the ticket is a valid ticket (step S4: YES), the process proceeds to step S5 to collect the ticket. In this case, the flapper 9 in FIG. 1 is switched to the collection side, and the boarding ticket is collected into a collection box (not shown) via a route indicated by a broken line. Thereafter, 1 is added to the correct ticket counter in step S6. The initial value of the correct ticket counter is 0, and if the ticket is determined to be valid, the value of the correct ticket counter becomes +1. When the correct ticket counter is +1, it means that one user is allowed to pass. In addition, the correct ticket counter is provided in the predetermined area | region of the memory | storage part 51 (FIG. 1). If the ticket is not a valid ticket in step S4 (step S4: NO), the process moves to step S12, the flapper 9 in FIG. 1 is switched to the return side, and the ticket is returned from the discharge port 10.

  Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S17 in FIG. 5 to determine whether or not the user has reached the no-tag detection position. This determination is made based on the sensor output of the human detection unit 56. The no-tick detection position is a position where a ticket is not passed over the antenna 5 or determined to be a no-ticket customer in order to prohibit a user who has not entered the slot 6 from entering the slot 6, and an automatic ticket gate It is set at a predetermined position between 100 passage entrances and the passage center. If it is determined in step S17 that the user has reached the no-tag detection position (step S17: YES), the process proceeds to step S18 to check whether there is a remaining (1 in this case) in the correct ticket counter. judge.

  If there is a remaining ticket counter (step S18: YES), the gate door 3 (FIG. 1) of the automatic ticket gate 100 is kept open in step S19. In step S20, it is determined whether the user has passed through the position of the gate door 3 based on the sensor output of the human detection unit 56. If the user has passed through the door position (step S20: YES), step S21 is performed. 1 is subtracted from the correct ticket counter. On the other hand, when there is no remaining ticket counter (step S18: NO), the gate door 3 of the automatic ticket gate 100 is closed in step S22 to prohibit the passage of the user.

  The series of procedures described above is the same as the conventional procedure in the case of processing a magnetic ticket.

  Next, if it is determined in step S2 of FIG. 4 that the ticket is a non-contact IC card (“IC” in step S2), the process proceeds to step S7, and the medium information stored in the IC chip of the ticket Is read through the antenna 5. Based on the read information, it is determined in step S8 whether or not it is necessary to collect the ticket. If it is determined that the ticket is a ticket that needs to be collected, such as a normal ticket (step S8: YES), the process proceeds to step S9 and waits for insertion of the ticket (IC ticket 20). In this case, you may make it display the message which prompts insertion of a boarding ticket on the display part (illustration omitted) provided in the insertion port 6 vicinity.

  While the boarding ticket (IC ticket 20) is not inserted in step S9 (step S9: NO), it is monitored in step S13 whether the user has reached the no-tag detection position. When the user reaches the no-tag detection position (step S13: YES), the process proceeds to step S18 in FIG. 5, and the subsequent procedure is executed.

  When the ticket is inserted in step S9 (step S9: YES), the process proceeds to step S10, and the medium information recorded in the magnetic recording area 22 of the IC ticket 20 is read via the magnetic head 8. Next, the process proceeds to step S11, and it is determined whether the medium information read in step S7 matches the medium information read in step S10. In this case, it is not always necessary to check whether or not both match completely, and it is also possible to check whether or not at least a part of the medium information matches. Therefore, for example, it may be determined only whether the medium ID is identical or not.

  If it is determined in step S11 that the medium information read by the antenna 5 matches the medium information read by the magnetic head 8 (step S11: YES), the process proceeds to step S4, and whether or not the boarding ticket is valid. Determine. If the boarding ticket is a valid ticket (step S4: YES), the process proceeds to step S5, where the boarding ticket (IC ticket 20 in this case) is collected, and 1 is added to the correct ticket counter in step S6. Thereafter, steps S17 to S22 in FIG. 5 are executed. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S11 that the medium information does not match (step S11: NO), the process proceeds to step S12, the ticket is returned from the discharge port 10, and then steps S17 to S22 in FIG. 5 are executed. To do.

  If it is determined in step S8 that the boarding ticket is a ticket that does not require collection such as an IC commuter pass or an IC prepaid card (step S8: NO), the process proceeds to step S14 and is read in step S7. It is determined whether the ticket is valid based on the medium information. If the boarding ticket is a valid ticket (step S14: YES), the process proceeds to step S15, 1 is added to the correct ticket counter, and then the process proceeds to step S16. If the boarding ticket is not a valid ticket (step S14: NO), step S15 is skipped and the process proceeds to step S16. In step S16, it is determined whether or not the user has reached the no-tag detection position. If it is determined that the user has reached the no-card detection position (step S16: YES), the process proceeds to step S18 in FIG. Follow the steps.

  In the embodiment described above, a normal ticket that needs to be collected is configured as an IC ticket 20 having an IC chip 21 and a magnetic recording area 22, and the IC chip 20 is placed over the antenna 5. The medium information (first medium information) is read from 21, and then the medium information (second medium information) in the magnetic recording area 22 is read by the magnetic head 8 when the IC ticket 20 is inserted from the insertion slot 6. When the two pieces of media information match, it is determined that the IC ticket 20 is a single ticket possessed by one user, and it is determined whether or not one user can pass (see FIG. 4). Steps S7 to S11, S4 to S6, and Steps S17 to S18 in FIG. 5) If the ticket is valid, the IC ticket 20 is collected (Steps S4 to S5).

  Therefore, even if an antenna different from the antenna 5 is not provided in the automatic ticket gate 100, the IC ticket 20 is collected and collected by collating the two medium information read by the antenna 5 and the magnetic head 8. The IC ticket 20 can be reused. For this reason, the existing automatic ticket gate 100 including the antenna 5 and the magnetic head 8 can be used as it is, and the IC ticket 20 can be collected and reused, and the introduction of the IC ticket can be realized at low cost.

In addition, when an IC commuter pass or IC prepaid card that does not need to be collected is held over the antenna 5 by a previous customer, and then a magnetic ticket such as an ordinary ticket is inserted from the slot 6 by the next customer, the reading pattern is as follows: As in the case of the IC ticket 20, the medium information of the IC card is first read by the antenna 5, and then the medium information of the magnetic ticket is read by the magnetic head 8. However, in this case, whether or not one user (advance customer) is allowed to pass is determined based on the medium information ( first medium information) read by the antenna 5 (steps S7 to S8 and S14 to S18 in FIG. 4). Next, it is determined whether or not the subsequent user (next customer) is allowed to pass based on the medium information ( second medium information) read by the magnetic head 8 (steps S3 to S6 in FIG. 4, steps in FIG. 5). S17 to S18). That is, the determination is performed by separating the first medium information and the second medium information. Thus, following the non-contact IC card of the previous customer, even if the magnetic tickets Tsugikyaku is turned on, and mistaken information read each medium information from the same ticket, traffic as one user without thereby determining whether it is possible to reliably isolate the previous customers and Tsugikyaku.

  Further, as described above, when determining whether or not two pieces of medium information read from the IC ticket 20 match, if it is determined whether or not at least a part of both pieces of medium information match, for example, the medium By simply collating the ID, it is possible to easily determine whether or not the tickets are the same, and determine whether one user can pass.

  In the above-described embodiment, an ordinary ticket is taken as an example of the IC ticket 20, but the present invention can also be applied to a case where the IC ticket 20 is a coupon ticket or an admission ticket.

It is the side view which showed an example of the automatic ticket gate concerning this invention. It is the figure which looked at the magnetic head vicinity from the upper surface. It is the block diagram which showed the electrical structure of the automatic ticket gate apparatus. It is the flowchart which showed the procedure of the bill collection process in an automatic ticket gate. FIG. 5 is a flowchart continued from FIG. 4.

Explanation of symbols

5 Antenna 6 Slot 8 Magnetic Head 20 IC Ticket 21 IC Chip 22 Magnetic Recording Area 30 Magnetic Ticket 50 CPU
57 Magnetic reader 58 Non-contact reader 59 Non-contact IC card

Claims (3)

A non-contact reading means provided in a position where the boarding ticket is held and reading the medium information recorded on the boarding ticket in a non-contact manner;
Magnetic reading means for reading the medium information magnetically recorded on the ticket inserted from the insertion slot;
In an automatic ticket gate having pass / fail judgment means for judging pass / fail of a user based on medium information read by the non-contact reading means or magnetic reading means,
From the medium information read by the non-contact reading means, provided with a collection necessity determination means for determining whether or not the ticket is to be collected,
When the collection necessity determination unit determines that the collection is necessary, the passability determination unit includes information included in the first medium information read by the non-contact reading unit, and the first medium by the non-contact reading unit. After reading the information , it is determined whether or not at least part of the information included in the second medium information read by the magnetic reading means matches from the ticket inserted from the insertion slot. Judging that the ticket is a single ticket owned by one user, determining whether the one user is allowed to pass,

When the passenger's ticket is held over the non-contact reading means and then the next passenger's ticket is inserted from the slot,
Based on the first medium information read by the non-contact reading means from the passenger's ticket when the collection necessity determination means determines that the collection is not required for the passenger's ticket. , the determined traffic whether preceding visitor, said after reading the first medium information in a non-contact reading means, second medium in which the magnetic read means from the ticket thrown-in Tsugikyaku is read from the inlet An automatic ticket gate device that determines whether the next customer can pass based on the information. In the automatic ticket gate apparatus according to claim 1,
The ticket that is determined to be required for recovery by the recovery necessity determination means is a normal ticket consisting of a non-contact IC card, a coupon ticket, or an admission ticket, and an IC chip that stores the first medium information; An automatic ticket gate having a magnetic recording area for storing second medium information. In the automatic ticket gate according to claim 1 or 2,
The passability determination unit determines whether the medium ID included in the first medium information read by the non-contact reading unit matches the medium ID included in the second medium information read by the magnetic reading unit. If the medium IDs coincide with each other, it is determined that the boarding ticket is one boarding ticket possessed by one user.

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