JP6033042B2 - Taximeter and taximeter system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a taximeter and a taximeter system including a printer unit.

  As this type of taximeter, there is one disclosed in Patent Document 1. As shown in FIG. 3, the taximeter 50 includes a meter unit 51 and a printer unit 60. The meter unit 51 includes a display unit 52 that displays a fee and a plurality of operation buttons (billing start, print, etc.) 53. The printer unit 60 prints data such as a fee in response to a print request when the print operation button 53 is pressed.

JP 2008-246727 A

  Incidentally, the printer unit 60 of the taximeter 50 is actually used only for printing the print data of the meter unit 51. For this reason, there is a demand for effective use of the printer unit 60 of the taximeter 50.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to provide a taximeter and a taximeter system that can effectively use a printer unit.

The present invention provides a taximeter comprising a printer unit and a taxi unit for controlling the printer unit, wherein an expansion unit capable of controlling the printer unit is provided so as to be connectable , and print data from the expansion unit and the taxi are provided. A line switching interface unit for switching a communication line to be output to the printer unit, which is output to the printer unit, and the taxi unit controls the line switching interface unit. Is a taximeter that performs control to switch the line switching interface unit to the expansion unit side in response to a communication switching request from the expansion unit side except during its own print request operation .

Before SL expansion unit, said circuit switching interface unit may be able to verify that switched to any of the cab portion and the extension unit.

Another embodiment of the present invention includes a taximeter including a printer unit and a taxi unit that controls the printer unit, and an expansion unit that is connectable to the taximeter and can control the printer unit, and the expansion unit. A line switching interface unit for switching a communication line to be output to the printer unit, either print data from the taxi unit or print data from the taxi unit, and the line switching interface unit is controlled by the taxi unit. The taxi unit performs control to switch the line switching interface unit to the expansion unit side in response to a communication switching request from the expansion unit side except during its own print request operation. It is a taximeter system.

  According to the present invention, print data from the extension unit can be printed by the printer unit of the taximeter. Accordingly, the printer unit of the taximeter can be used effectively. Since the expansion unit can print the print data by the printer unit without going through the taxi unit, it can execute printing regardless of the print data buffer capacity of the taxi unit, and is convenient.

1 is a schematic circuit block diagram of a taximeter system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1A and 1B show an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1A is an operation flowchart of a taxi section, and FIG. It is a schematic front view of the taximeter of a prior art example.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  1 and 2 show an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the taximeter system 1 includes a taximeter 2 and an expansion unit 10 connected to the taximeter 2.

  The taximeter 2 includes a printer unit (PR unit) 3, a taxi unit 4, a line switching interface unit 5, and a plurality of external connection terminal units 6. The printer unit 3 executes printing of input print data under the control of the taxi unit 4 or the expansion unit 10. The taxi unit 4 calculates taxi billing data and the like, and stores the calculated billing data and the attached data in, for example, an internal memory. The taxi unit 4 converts the charging data and the attached data stored based on the print request into print data, and outputs the print data to the line switching interface unit 5 from the communication line C1. The taxi unit 4 controls the printer unit 3 when printing data is output. Further, the taxi unit 4 switches the line switching interface unit 5 by a line switching signal.

  The line switching interface unit 5 selectively switches the communication line C1 on the taxi unit 4 side and the communication line C2 on the expansion unit 10 side to the printer unit 3 based on the line switching signal from the taxi unit 4.

  Each external connection terminal unit 6 is connected to a communication line C2 on one input side of the line switching interface unit 5, a communication line C3 of the taxi unit 4, and a communication line C4 for a line switching signal of the taxi unit 4. Yes.

  The expansion unit 10 can be connected to the taximeter 2 by a plurality of external connection terminal portions 6. The plurality of external connection terminal portions 6 can be connected by a single connector connection. When the expansion unit 10 is connected to the taximeter 2, the communication line C10 that communicates with the taxi unit 4, the communication line C11 that communicates with the printer unit 3, and the switching confirmation for confirming the line switching signal. The service line C12 is connected to each communication line C3, C2, C4 of the taximeter 2.

  A settlement terminal (for example, a credit card) 11 can be connected to the expansion unit 10, and data can be exchanged with the connected settlement terminal 11. The expansion unit 10 converts the data from the settlement terminal 11 into print data, and outputs the print data to the line switching interface unit 5 from the communication line C11. The expansion unit 10 controls the printer unit 3 when printing data is output. That is, the expansion unit 10 can directly control the printer unit 3 without going through the taxi unit 4.

  The expansion unit 10 can make a line switching request to the communication line C2 to the taxi unit 4 through the communication lines C3 and C10 with the taxi unit 4. The expansion unit 10 can confirm the state of the line switching signal through the switching confirmation lines C4 and C12.

  Next, each operation | movement of the taxi part 4 and the expansion unit 10 is each demonstrated. As shown in FIG. 2A, the taxi unit 4 outputs a communication line switching signal to the line switching interface unit 5 so that the communication line with the printer unit 3 is on the taxi unit 4 side (step S1). Then, it waits for a print request to the taxi section 4 (step S2). If there is a print request to the taxi unit 4, print data is transmitted to the printer unit 3 to control the printer unit 3 (step S3). Thereby, the printer unit 3 executes the printing operation.

  If there is no print request to the taxi section 4 (step S3), it is checked whether there is a communication line switching request signal from the expansion unit 10 side (step S4). If there is no communication line switching request signal, the process returns to step 1. If there is a communication line switching request signal, a line switching signal is output to the line switching interface unit 5 and the communication line with the printer unit 3 is set to the expansion unit 10 side (step S5). Thereafter, it is always checked whether or not there is a communication line switching request from the expansion unit 10 side (step S6). If there is a communication line switching request, the process returns to step 1.

  That is, the taxi unit 4 sets the communication line with the printer unit 3 as the taxi unit 4 side (step S1), and waits for its own print request and communication line switching request from the expansion unit 10 (steps S2, S3, S4). The taxi unit 4 prints if there is a print request, and controls the switching of the line switching interface unit 5 by accepting a communication line switching request from the expansion unit 10 side except during its own printing operation.

  As shown in FIG. 2B, the expansion unit 10 always checks whether or not there is a print request to the printer unit 3 (step S10). If there is a print request, a request for “communication line with the printer unit 3 to the extension unit 10 side” is transmitted to the taxi unit 4 (step S11). Next, it is checked whether or not the communication line with the printer unit 3 is on the extension unit 10 side based on the line switching signal (step S12). If the communication line with the printer unit 3 is on the extension unit 10 side, print data is transmitted to the printer unit 3 to control the printer unit 3 (step S13). Thereby, the printer unit 3 executes the printing operation.

  When the printing operation is completed, a request to “connect the communication line with the printer unit 3 to the taxi unit 4 side” is transmitted to the taxi unit 4 (step S13). Then, it returns to step S1.

  As described above, the taximeter 2 includes the printer unit 3 and the taxi unit 4 that controls the printer unit 3, and the expansion unit 10 that can control the printer unit 3 is provided so as to be connectable. Print data and print data from the taxi unit 4 can be selectively output to the printer unit 3. Therefore, the print data from the expansion unit 10 can be printed by the printer unit 3 of the taximeter 2. Therefore, the printer unit 3 of the taximeter 2 can be used effectively.

  The taximeter system 1 includes a taximeter 2 including a printer unit 3 and a taxi unit 4 that controls the printer unit 3, and an expansion unit 10 that can be connected to the taximeter 2 and can control the printer unit 3. The print data from the expansion unit 10 and the print data from the taxi unit 4 can be selectively output to the printer unit 3. Therefore, the taximeter system 1 can effectively use the printer unit 3 of the taximeter 2 for the same reason as described above.

  Since the expansion unit 10 can print the print data by the printer unit 3 without going through the taxi unit 4, printing can be executed regardless of the print data buffer capacity of the taxi unit 4, and the usability is good.

  The print data from the expansion unit 10 and the print data from the taxi unit 4 are performed by the line switching interface unit 5 that switches between the communication lines C1 and C2, and the taxi unit 4 controls the line switching interface unit 5. Do. Accordingly, the taxi unit 4 has priority over the use of the printer unit 3 with respect to the expansion unit 10. For example, the taxi unit 4 can accept the printing use of the expansion unit 10 within a range in which its own printing operation is not limited.

  The expansion unit 10 can confirm whether the line switching interface unit 5 is switched to the communication line C1, C2 of the expansion unit 10 or the taxi unit 4. Therefore, since the expansion unit 10 can transmit print data only when the communication line is switched to the expansion unit 10 side, the print data can be reliably printed by the printer unit 3. Since the expansion unit 10 does not store the built-in data of the settlement terminal (for example, credit card) in the memory, a reliable printing is required at one time, but the request is surely confirmed using the printer unit 3 of the taximeter 2. realizable.

  In the above-described embodiment, the taximeter 2 is provided so that one extension unit 10 can be connected. However, a plurality of extension units 10 may be connected. In this case, the line switching interface unit 5 can selectively switch the communication lines of the taxi unit 4 and the plurality of expansion units 10 to the printer unit 3.

1 Taximeter system 2 Taximeter 3 Printer unit 4 Taxi unit 5 Line switching interface unit 10 Expansion unit

Claims (3)

A taximeter comprising a printer unit and a taxi unit for controlling the printer unit,
An expansion unit capable of controlling the printer unit is provided to be connectable,
A line switching interface unit for switching a communication line for outputting either the print data from the extension unit or the print data from the taxi unit to the printer unit;
The taxi unit performs control of the line switching interface unit,
The taxi unit is configured to perform a control to switch the line switching interface unit to the extension unit side in response to a communication switching request from the extension unit side except during its own print request operation . The taximeter according to claim 1 , wherein
The extension unit is capable of confirming whether the line switching interface unit is switched to the extension unit or the taxi unit. A taximeter comprising a printer unit and a taxi unit for controlling the printer unit;
An extension unit provided to be connectable to the taximeter and capable of controlling the printer unit;
A line switching interface unit for switching a communication line for outputting either the print data from the extension unit or the print data from the taxi unit to the printer unit;
The taxi unit performs control of the line switching interface unit,
The taxi unit performs a control to switch the line switching interface unit to the expansion unit side in response to a communication switching request from the expansion unit side except during its own printing request operation. .

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