JP6276978B2 - Automatic ticket gate and control method of automatic ticket gate - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an automatic ticket gate and a method for controlling the automatic ticket gate. In particular, the present invention relates to an automatic ticket gate corresponding to a communication recording body such as an IC card and a control method thereof.

An automatic ticket gate corresponding to the use of a communication recording body such as an IC card has an antenna unit that communicates with the communication recording body, and a reader / writer (hereinafter referred to as “read / write”) that reads and writes information stored in the communication recording body via the antenna unit. And “R / W”). When it is detected that an IC card is present in the communication area of the antenna unit (referred to as an area communicable with a communication recording body), information is read by communicating with the communication recording body, and processing corresponding to the read information is performed. And do actions.
By the way, even if the user (for example, a station customer) intends to hold the communication recording body over the antenna section, the communication recording body may not actually enter the communication area of the antenna section. In this case, since no communication is performed between the antenna unit and the communication recording body, the automatic ticket gate does not react. For this reason, the user may not be aware that the predetermined processing has not been executed on the possessed communication recording body. In this case, for example, if the entry record is not written at the entry station, it cannot be properly settled at the entry station.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 08-138093

  In view of the above situation, the problem to be solved by the present invention is to perform processing according to whether the user can communicate with the communication recording body or not when the user holds the communication recording body over the antenna unit. It is to provide an automatic ticket gate and a method for controlling the automatic ticket gate.

In order to solve the above-described problems, an automatic ticket gate according to the present invention includes an antenna unit that wirelessly communicates with a communication recording body existing in a communication area , an object detection sensor that detects an object present in a detection area , and the antenna. possess control means for executing processing in accordance with the communication state and the object detection sensor according to a detection result of parts, a, together with the detection area comprises said communication area, and wherein the wider than the communication area.

  When the antenna unit does not wirelessly communicate with the communication recording body even after a predetermined time has elapsed since the object detection sensor detects the presence of an object in the communication area, the control means uses It may be configured to execute a confirmation process that prompts the user to confirm the communication record.

  The control means terminates the confirmation process when the confirmation process is executed and the object detection sensor continues to detect the presence of an object in the communication area for a predetermined time. It may be configured to.

An automatic ticket gate control method according to the present invention is an automatic ticket gate control method having an antenna unit that wirelessly communicates with a communication recording body existing in a communication area , and whether or not an object exists in a detection area . An object detection step for detecting, a communication determination step for determining whether or not the antenna unit is in wireless communication with the communication recording body when an object is detected in the object detection step, and an object detection step. possess a processing step of performing a determination result and processing in accordance with the detection result and the communication determination step, the, together with the detection area comprises said communication area, and wherein the wider than the communication area.

  If it is determined that wireless communication is not performed in the communication determination step even after a predetermined time has elapsed since the detection of the object in the object detection step, the communication record is sent to the user in the processing step. It may be configured to execute a confirmation process for prompting body confirmation.

  In the processing step, the confirmation process may be terminated when a state where the presence of an object in the communication area is detected continues for a predetermined time.

  According to the present invention, when the user holds the communication recording body over the antenna unit, it is possible to perform processing depending on whether or not communication with the communication recording body is possible.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an external configuration of an automatic ticket gate according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of the automatic ticket gate according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the automatic ticket gate according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the relationship between the communication area of the antenna unit and the detection area of the object detection sensor. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of processing of the automatic ticket gate. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen of the display device in the confirmation process.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
First, an overall configuration of an automatic ticket gate according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an external configuration of an automatic ticket gate 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an example of the internal configuration of the automatic ticket gate 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the automatic ticket gate 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the automatic ticket gate 1 includes a housing 10, a main control panel 11, a monitoring panel 12, an R / W 13, an antenna unit 14, an object detection sensor 15, and a display 16. A speaker 17, a buzzer 18, and an indicator 19.
In addition, in this embodiment, although the automatic ticket gate 1 shows the structure which does not have an opening / closing door, you may have an opening / closing door.

  The main control panel 11 has a function as control means for controlling the automatic ticket gate 1. The main control panel 11 is, for example, a computer having a CPU that executes predetermined calculations, a ROM that stores computer programs and various data, and a RAM that can temporarily store computer programs and various data. . The ROM stores a computer program for controlling the automatic ticket gate 1 and various data used for controlling the automatic ticket gate 1. The CPU reads the computer program stored in the ROM, expands it in the RAM, and executes it. As a result, the main control panel 11 functions as a control means for controlling the automatic ticket gate 1 and controls the automatic ticket gate 1.

  The monitoring panel 12 has a function as monitoring means for monitoring whether an object held over the antenna unit 14 (described later) is a communication recording body that can be handled by the automatic ticket gate 1. The monitoring panel 12 is also a computer having a CPU that executes predetermined calculations, a ROM that stores computer programs and various data, and a RAM that can temporarily store computer programs and various data. The ROM stores a computer program for executing monitoring and various data used for monitoring. The CPU reads the computer program stored in the ROM, expands it in the RAM, and executes it. Accordingly, the monitoring panel 12 functions as a monitoring unit that monitors whether an object held over the antenna unit 14 (described later) is a communication recording body that can be handled by the automatic ticket gate 1.

The R / W 13 is provided on a communication recording body such as an IC card that is held (approached or brought into contact with) the antenna unit 14 by a user (for example, a station user) according to control by the control means (main control panel 11). Wireless communication with the IC chip to be performed via the antenna unit 14. The antenna unit 14 has a resonance circuit including, for example, a coil having a predetermined inductance and a capacitor having a predetermined capacitance.
The R / W 13 drives the antenna unit 14 and generates a magnetic field by transmitting a carrier wave (electromagnetic wave) in a predetermined wavelength band from the antenna unit 14. Thereby, electric power is supplied to a communication recording body without contact. Further, the R / W 13 modulates a carrier wave according to a command or data to be transmitted, and transmits the modulated carrier wave to the communication recording body via the antenna unit 14. Further, the R / W 13 receives an electromagnetic wave that is a response signal from the communication recording body via the antenna unit 14. Then, the R / W 13 demodulates the received response signal and acquires a command and data from the demodulated response signal. In this manner, the R / W 13 communicates with the communication recording body through the antenna unit 14 in a non-contact manner. For convenience of explanation, an area where the R / W 13 can wirelessly communicate with a communication recording body via the antenna unit 14 is referred to as a “communication area”.
The antenna unit 14 is provided, for example, at a position closer to the upper side of the front surface of the housing 10 so that the user can easily hold the communication recording body. Moreover, the antenna part 14 is provided so that the front surface may face the front diagonally upper side. The antenna unit 14 is provided with a light source (for example, an LED), and emits light according to the control of the control means. Here, it is assumed that the antenna unit 14 is provided with blue and red light sources.

  The object detection sensor 15 detects an object present in the communication area of the antenna unit 14. The detection result by the object detection sensor 15 is transmitted to the monitoring means (monitoring panel 12). For convenience of explanation, a range in which an object can be detected by the object detection sensor 15 is referred to as a “detection area”. As the object detection sensor 15, for example, a reflective photoelectric sensor is applied. However, the object detection sensor 15 is not limited to a photoelectric sensor. The object detection sensor 15 may be any sensor that can detect an object existing in the communication area of the antenna unit 14 in a non-contact manner, and various conventionally known sensors can be applied.

The display 16 displays various information according to the control of the control means. For example, a liquid crystal display device is applied to the display 16.
The speaker 17 and the buzzer 18 are provided inside the housing 10. And a sound is emitted according to control of a control means.
The indicator 19 is provided on the upper surface of the housing 10. Inside the indicator 19, light sources of a plurality of different colors (for example, LEDs) are provided. The light source provided in the indicator 19 emits light according to control by the control means. Here, it is assumed that blue, red, and yellow light sources are provided side by side in the front view.

Next, the relationship between the communication area of the antenna unit 14 and the detection area of the object detection sensor 15 will be described with reference to FIG. 4A and 4B are schematic views showing the relationship between the communication area A of the antenna unit 14 and the detection area B of the object detection sensor 15, where FIG. 4A is a view seen from the front, and FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view seen from the side. It is. A dome-shaped space on the front side of the antenna unit 14 is a communication area A of the antenna unit 14. On the other hand, a space extending in a fan shape (or cone shape) from the detection sensor is a detection area B of the object detection sensor 15. The detection area B of the object detection sensor 15 is overlapped with the communication area A of the antenna unit 14, and an object existing in the communication area A of the antenna unit 14 can be detected.
For example, the upper side of the antenna portion 14 of the housing 10 protrudes forward, and the object detection sensor 15 is provided therein. And the object detection sensor 15 can detect the object which exists in the space under it. According to such a configuration, the communication area A of the antenna unit 14 and the detection area B of the object detection sensor 15 are overlapped, and the object detection sensor 15 can detect an object existing in the communication area A of the antenna unit 14. .
The specific position where the antenna unit 14 and the object detection sensor 15 are provided is not limited. The antenna part 14 should just be a structure provided in the position where a user can hold a communication recording body. Moreover, the object detection sensor 15 should just be the structure provided in the position which can detect the object which exists in the communication area A of the antenna part 14 by non-contact.
Further, the detection area B of the object detection sensor 15 may be wider than the communication area A of the antenna unit 14 so that it can be detected that an object has approached outside the communication area A of the antenna unit 14.

  Next, processing and operation of the automatic ticket gate 1 will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of processing of the automatic ticket gate 1. A computer program for executing this processing is stored in advance in the ROM of the main control panel 11 and the ROM of the monitoring panel 12. Then, the CPU of the main control panel 11 and the CPU of the monitoring panel 12 respectively read out the computer program from the ROM, develop it in the RAM, and execute it. Thereby, the main control panel 11 functions as a control unit and the monitoring panel 12 functions as a monitoring unit, and the processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5 is realized.

  At the start of the processing shown in this flowchart, the R / W 13 continues to transmit the polling command by driving the antenna unit 14. When the communication recording body enters the communication area A of the antenna unit 14 in this state, the IC chip of the communication recording body is activated by receiving power supply from the antenna unit 14. When the IC chip of the communication recording body receives a polling command from the antenna unit 14, it transmits a response (response signal) via a coil provided in the communication recording body. When the R / W 13 receives a response via the antenna unit 14, the R / W 13 continues wireless communication with the communication recording body. Then, the R / W 13 performs a series of processes such as authentication, reading, determination, writing, and writing confirmation for the communication recording body, and disconnects the connection with the communication recording body when the series of processes is completed. .

  In “object detection?” In step S101, the monitoring unit acquires the detection result by the object detection sensor 15, and determines whether or not an object exists in the communication area A of the antenna unit 14 (object detection step). If it is determined that no object exists in the communication area A of the antenna unit 14, the process stands by in this step. If it is determined that an object exists, the process proceeds to step S102.

  In “timer start” in step S102, the monitoring means starts measuring (time counting) the elapsed time after determining that an object is present in the communication area A of the antenna unit. Then, the process proceeds to step S103.

  In “time up?” In step S103, the monitoring unit determines whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed since the start of time measurement. The predetermined time is not particularly limited and is set as appropriate. The predetermined time may be changeable by the control means or the monitoring means. If the predetermined time has not elapsed, the process proceeds to step S104. If the predetermined time has elapsed, the process proceeds to step S106.

  In “communication recording body processing?” In step S104, the monitoring unit determines whether or not the R / W 13 is wirelessly communicating with the communication recording body (communication determination step). Specifically, if any processing from the time when the response to the polling command is received until the connection with the communication recording body is disconnected, the wireless communication with the communication recording body is performed. judge. If wireless communication is not being performed, the process returns to step S103. If wireless communication is being performed, the process proceeds to step S105.

When the process proceeds to step S105 (in the case of “Yes” in step S104), the object that the user holds over the antenna unit 14 is a communication recording body that the automatic ticket checker 1 can handle. In this case, the control means performs normal control and continues wireless communication with the communication recording medium by the R / W 13. Then, processing or operation is performed according to data stored in the IC chip of the communication recording body.
The normal process includes, for example, writing an entry record or an entry record, adjusting the use of SF, determining a period of a commuter pass, determining an expiration date of a communication record. The control means turns on the blue light source or the blue and yellow light sources of the indicator 19 when the authentication to write confirmation processing is normally completed. When an abnormality occurs at any stage between authentication and writing confirmation, the red light source of the indicator 19 or the red and yellow light sources are turned on, and the red light source of the antenna unit 14 is turned on. When the processing from authentication to writing confirmation has not been completed, the indicator 19 and the red light source of the antenna unit 14 are blinked. Further, the control means displays on the display 16 according to the processing. Further, the control means performs voice guidance via the speaker 17 or the buzzer 18 when an abnormality occurs at any stage between authentication and writing confirmation or when the processing is not completed.

  In “timer stop” in step S105, the monitoring unit ends the time measurement started in step S102. Then, the process proceeds to step S111. The R / W 13 turns off the light source of the antenna unit 14 during the process of authentication to write confirmation (while wirelessly communicating with the communication recording body via the antenna unit 14).

  If the predetermined time has elapsed in “time up?” In step S103, the process proceeds to step S106. When the process proceeds to step S106, the situation is one of the following. (1) The object that the user holds over the antenna unit 14 is not a communication recording body that the automatic ticket gate 1 can handle. (2) Even if the object that the user holds over the antenna unit 14 is a communication recording body that the automatic ticket checker 1 can handle, the communication recording body can enter the communication area A of the antenna unit 14 to perform wireless communication. Not.

Therefore, in “start confirmation process” in step S106, the monitoring unit transmits a signal indicating that to the control unit. When the control means receives this signal from the monitoring means, it starts processing for prompting the user to confirm the communication record. For convenience of explanation, this processing is referred to as “confirmation processing”.
The control means executes the following process as the confirmation process. (1) The buzzer 18 or the speaker 17 is controlled to emit a sound prompting the user to confirm. For example, a voice “Please check your IC card” is issued. (2) The indicator 19 is operated in a predetermined manner. For example, the red or yellow lamp of the indicator 19 is blinked. (3) A message for prompting the user to confirm the IC card is displayed on the display 16. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen of the display 16 in the confirmation process.
These are examples of the confirmation process, and the confirmation process is not limited to these processes. In short, any process that prompts the user to confirm an object held over the antenna unit 14 may be used. Then, the process proceeds to step S107.

In steps S107 to S109, it is determined whether or not an object is present in the communication area A of the antenna unit 14 for a predetermined time.
First, in “timer start” in step S107, the monitoring unit starts measuring (time counting) the elapsed time after the control unit starts the confirmation process. Then, the process proceeds to step S108.
In “object detection?” In step S108, the monitoring unit obtains the detection result of the object detection sensor 15 and determines whether or not an object exists in the communication area A of the antenna unit 14. If an object exists, the process proceeds to step S109. If no object exists, the process proceeds to step S110 without passing through step S109.
In “time up?” In step S109, the monitoring unit determines whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed since the start of time measurement in step S107. If the predetermined time has not elapsed, the process returns to step S108. If the predetermined time has elapsed, the process proceeds to step S110. The predetermined time is not particularly limited. The predetermined time can also be changed by the control means or the monitoring means.

  In the “confirmation processing end” in step S110, the monitoring means sends a signal indicating that a predetermined time has elapsed (an object is present in the communication area of the antenna unit 14 for a predetermined time) to the main control means. Send. When the main control means receives this signal from the monitoring means, the main control means ends the confirmation processing started in step S106. Thus, when the state in which the object is present in the communication area A of the antenna unit 14 continues for a predetermined time, the control unit ends (degenerates) the confirmation process.

  In “communication recording body processing end?” In step S111, the control unit determines whether or not wireless communication with the communication recording body is ended (disconnected) and whether or not the confirmation processing is ended. If either one has not ended, the process waits in this step. If both have ended, the processing shown in this flow is ended.

As described above, the monitoring unit starts communication with the communication recording medium via the antenna unit 14 before the predetermined time has elapsed since the monitoring unit detects an object existing in the communication area A of the antenna unit 14. In such a case, it is determined that the detected object is a communication recording body that can be handled by the automatic ticket gate 1. In this case, the control means executes normal processing.
On the other hand, when the monitoring means does not communicate with the communication recording body via the antenna unit 14 even after a predetermined time has elapsed since the object existing in the communication area A of the antenna unit 14 is detected. The communication area of the antenna unit 14 is not an object that exists in the communication area A of the antenna unit 14 or the communication ticket that the automatic ticket gate 1 can handle. A is determined not to be able to communicate. In this case, the control means executes a confirmation process that prompts the user to confirm the communication record.
As described above, the control unit performs the confirmation process as a process according to the detection result of whether or not an object exists in the communication area A of the antenna unit 14 and the determination result of the communication state of the antenna unit 14.

  Then, when the object continues to exist in the communication area A of the antenna unit 14 for a predetermined time after starting the confirmation process, the control unit ends the confirmation process.

  As described above, the automatic ticket gate 1 according to the present embodiment performs processing according to whether or not communication with the communication recording body is possible when the user holds the communication recording body over the antenna unit 14. Do. And according to this embodiment, when a user holds a communication recording body over the antenna part 14, the process according to the case where it cannot communicate with a communication recording body can be performed. In particular, when wireless communication with the communication record is not possible, the user can be prompted to confirm the communication record. The user can check the possessed communication recording body and hold the communication recording body over the antenna unit 14 by the confirmation processing.

  As described above, the detection area B of the object detection sensor 15 may be wider than the communication area A of the antenna unit 14. For example, even if the user intends to hold the communication recording body over the antenna unit 14, the distance between the communication recording body and the antenna unit 14 is large, and the communication recording body does not enter the communication area A. is there. Even in such a case, the automatic ticket gate 1 can perform the above-described processing and operations to prompt the user to confirm.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described in detail with reference to drawings, the said embodiment only showed the specific example in implementation of this invention. The technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. The present invention can be variously modified without departing from the gist thereof, and these are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, an IC card is shown as a corresponding communication record, but the corresponding communication record is not limited to an IC card. As the communication record body, in addition to the IC card, various communication record bodies such as a mobile phone, a PDA, and a mobile phone storing an IC card can be applied. Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the automatic ticket gate which does not have an opening / closing door was shown, it is applicable also to the automatic ticket gate which has an opening / closing door.

  The present invention is a technique effective for an automatic ticket gate. And according to this invention, the process according to whether it was able to communicate with the communication recording body which the user held up can be performed.

1: automatic ticket gate, 10: chassis, 11: main control panel, 12: monitoring panel, 13: reader / writer (R / W), 14: antenna unit, 15: object detection sensor, 16: display, 17: Speaker, 18: Buzzer, 19: Indicator, A: Communication area, B: Detection area

Claims (6)

An antenna unit that wirelessly communicates with a communication record existing in the communication area;
An object detection sensor for detecting an object present in the detection area ;
Control means for executing processing according to a communication state of the antenna unit and a detection result by the object detection sensor;
Have a, together with the detection area comprises said communication area, automatic gate, characterized in that wider than the communication area.   When the antenna unit does not wirelessly communicate with the communication recording body even after a predetermined time has elapsed since the object detection sensor detects the presence of an object in the communication area, the control means uses The automatic ticket checker according to claim 1, wherein a confirmation process for prompting a person to confirm the communication record is executed.   The control means terminates the confirmation process when the confirmation process is executed and the object detection sensor continues to detect the presence of an object in the communication area for a predetermined time. The automatic ticket gate according to claim 2, wherein: A control method for an automatic ticket gate having an antenna unit for wireless communication with a communication record existing in a communication area,
An object detection step for detecting whether an object exists in the detection area ;
A communication determination step for determining whether or not the antenna unit is wirelessly communicating with the communication recording body when an object is detected in the object detection step;
A processing step for performing processing according to the detection result of the object detection step and the determination result of the communication determination step;
Have a, together with the detection area comprises said communication area, a control method for an automatic ticket gate, characterized in that wider than the communication area. In the object detection step, when it is determined that wireless communication is not performed in the communication determination step even if a predetermined time has elapsed since the object was detected,
5. The control method for an automatic ticket gate according to claim 4, wherein in the processing step, a confirmation process for prompting a user to confirm the communication record is executed.   6. The automatic ticket gate according to claim 5, wherein, in the processing step, the confirmation processing is terminated when a state in which an object is present in the communication area continues for a predetermined time. How to control the machine.

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