JPH01223591A - Vending machine and purchasing medium for vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To shorten time necessary to purchase goods and service, to simplify a purchasing operation and to attain a re-using by setting processing information necessary to sell to a card medium and updating amount information. CONSTITUTION:A card C has a purchasing information input part 2 composed of plural keys, a displaying part 3, an information communicating terminal 4 between a vending machine 11 on the surface and private railroad line information is displayed on the rear surface. When a user inputs the purchasing information by the private railroad line information, it is sent through a control part 8 to an arithmetic processing part 10, a charge is operated, the processing information is recorded in a memory 9a and the purchasing information is set. Next, when the card C is inserted 13 into the vending machine 11, the information from the memory 9a and an amount writing part 7 is read 28, discriminated 22 and displayed 14. When the user executes the confirmation operation, a ticket is issued from a ticket issuing part 30 through a receiving port 20 and the card C is returned.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Object of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a vending machine and a purchasing medium for a vending machine,
More specifically, for example, a card-shaped ticket purchase medium in which ticket purchase information for using transportation facilities can be set in advance, and a vending machine and vending machine suitable for those that take in this ticket purchase medium and perform ticket issuing processing. Regarding purchasing media.

(Prior Art) Generally, at stations for using transportation such as trains and buses, there are vending machines that take denomination tickets such as banknotes and sell the necessary tickets.

In the case of such vending machines, in order to purchase a ticket, a user must look at the information display such as a route map or fare table, confirm the name of the station he or she wishes to use, and the amount (fare); An adult inserts the required amount of banknotes or a card as a value ticket into the machine.

Passenger information such as the type of child and the number of tickets required must be entered manually.

However, with the conventional ticket purchasing method for vending machines as described above, each user must perform a ticket purchasing operation for the vending machine even during rush hours when there are many users, and as a result, the number of tickets issued per person is There is a problem that it takes a long time and promotes congestion.

In addition, there are vending machines that use both cards as money tickets and banknotes, but even in this device, when the balance on the card is low, for example, both the card and banknotes can be inserted into the vending machine. This requires the above-mentioned key human effort, which results in a problem that the ticket issuing time becomes longer and the purchasing operation becomes more complicated.

In general, cards that have been used to purchase tickets are usually discarded rather than reused, and for this reason, frequent public transportation users have to purchase many cards one after another. The problem is that it doesn't.

The above problems are not necessarily limited to vending machines for transportation, but also for vending machines for food, drinks, and other goods.

This is a common item for devices that provide services, such as telephones and automatic guidance devices, especially those that have multiple functions.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As mentioned above, conventional vending machines have problems in that the purchase time for goods or services is long, which promotes congestion among users, and the purchase operation is also complicated. However, there is also the problem that the card cannot be reused as a value ticket.

Therefore, the present invention aims to provide a purchasing medium for a vending machine that can shorten the time required to purchase goods or services, simplify the purchasing operation, and can be reused, and a vending machine that can use this purchasing medium. This is the purpose.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problem) A purchasing medium for a vending machine according to claim 1 comprises: a purchase information input section for inputting purchase information regarding goods or services to be purchased in the vending machine; An information processing section that processes the purchase information input from the purchase information input section necessary for purchasing goods or services, and an information processing section that records the amount information of the medium itself in advance and can also write amount information sent from outside. a display section for displaying purchase information from the purchase information input section or processing information by the information processing section; A card-like base is provided with an information transmitting section that transmits information and also receives amount information from the outside.

Further, the purchase medium for a vending machine according to claim 2 includes a purchase information input section for inputting purchase information regarding the goods or services to be purchased, and a purchase information input section for inputting purchase information for the goods or services to be purchased. an information processing unit that performs necessary processing;
an amount information recording section that records the amount information of the medium itself in advance; a display section that displays purchase information from the purchase information input section or processing information by the information processing section; and a display section that displays the processing information by the information processing section and the above. A card-like base is provided with an information transmitting section that transmits amount information to the outside.

Furthermore, the vending machine according to claim 3 takes in the purchase medium, and includes processing information for the purchase of items or items preset by the purchase medium and an amount information record provided in the purchase medium. a media processing means that reads the amount information recorded in the inclusion section and rewrites this amount information;
A price ticket processing means that receives a price ticket inputted into the device and reads its price information, and determines whether processing information for ticket purchase is appropriate based on the price information of the ticket purchase medium and the price information of the price ticket. It has a discrimination control means that performs rewriting control of the amount information recording writing part of the purchase medium, and a sales processing means that provides goods or services corresponding to the processing information based on the discrimination result of the discrimination control means. be.

(Function) The functions of the purchasing medium for vending machines and the vending machine having the above configuration will be explained in detail below.

In the purchase medium for a vending machine according to the first aspect, first, purchase information regarding the goods or services to be purchased is input from the purchase information input section provided on the card-like base. This purchase information is sent to the information processing section, where processing necessary for purchasing goods or services is performed. The purchase information from the purchase information input section or the information processed by the information processing section is displayed on the display section for the user's approval. This allows the user to perform most of the operations necessary for purchasing goods or services in advance.

In addition, the amount information of the medium itself, which is pre-recorded in the amount information recording and writing section of this medium, and the processing information are sent to an external device via the information transmission section under the control of the information processing section, and are sent to an external device for ticket issuing processing. At the same time, the amount information sent from an external device is passed through the information transmission section to the amount information recording writing section and subjected to writing processing.

As a result, the amount information in the amount information recording and writing section is updated, and this medium can be reused.

The operation of the purchase medium according to claim 2 is similar to the operation of the purchase medium according to claim 1, except that the amount information is not sent from an external device.

Further, the operation of the vending machine according to claim 3 is as follows.

The media processing means of this device takes in a purchase medium, and records processing information for purchasing goods or services preset in the purchase medium and an amount information recording writing section provided in the purchase medium. Read the amount information.

Further, the money bill processing means of this device takes in the money bill inserted into this device and reads the money amount information.

The determination control means determines whether or not the processed information is appropriate within the framework based on the amount information from the purchase medium and the amount information of the amount ticket, and if the processed information is appropriate, sends a signal to that effect to the sales process. send to means. Thereby, the sales processing means issues a ticket corresponding to the processing information.

Furthermore, the determination control means performs rewrite control on the amount information recording and writing section of the purchase medium based on the relationship between the same amount information of the ticket purchase medium and the amount ticket and the processing information. As a result, the amount information in the amount information recording and writing section is updated, and the purchased medium becomes reusable.

(Example) Examples of the present invention will be described in detail below.

First, a card C as a railway ticket purchase medium, which is an example of a purchase medium according to this embodiment, will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

This card C includes a purchase information input section 2 consisting of a large number of keys, which will be described in detail later, on the front side of a substantially rectangular base 1;
A display section 3 consisting of a liquid crystal display or the like for displaying purchase information, and a connection terminal section 4 that is an information transmission section for transmitting and receiving various information between this card C and a vending machine 30 to be described later are provided. There is.

Further, on the surface 1b of the base 1, as shown in FIG. 2, company line information 5 in a map format for setting purchase information is displayed.

The company line information 5 is formed, for example, by printing a track diagram of the A company line and a track diagram of the 8 company line on the back surface 1b of the base 1, as shown in the figure.

The track map of Company A line displays stations a to d with station name codes 1-01 to 1-04, respectively, and the track map of Company 8 line displays station C of company A line. The starting point includes stations e and f, with station name code 2-01 for C station, station name code 2-02 for e station, and station name code 2-0 for f station.
3 is attached. That is, C station is a transfer station between Company A line and Company 8 line, and has two station name codes.

Next, the entire control system of the card C will be explained with reference to FIG.

The control system of this card C includes an information processing section 6 that controls the entire operation of this card C and performs necessary information processing, the purchase information input section 2 connected to this information processing section 6, and a display section 3.
and a connection terminal 4, and an amount information recording and writing section 7 connected to the information processing section 6.

The information processing section 6 includes a card control section 8 including a CPU;
The card C includes a program memory 9 in which an operation program necessary for the operation of the card C is stored in advance, an information memory 9a for recording information, and an arithmetic processing unit 1Q that performs a charge meter sieving process based on the operation program. There is.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the purchase information input section 2 includes a company line contact key 2a, an adult ticket number key 2b, a child ticket number key 2c, a total charge key 2d, a balance display key 2e, and a departure station key. 2F, arrival station key 2Q.

Numeric keypad 2 for entering the number Ono ¥9 and clear
h and an entry key 21 are arranged on the surface of the card C, and each of these keys is connected to the card control section 8.

The amount information recording and writing section 7 is configured using a random access memory (RAM), and records in advance amount information indicating the remaining price depending on the usage status of the card C itself, and also stores the amount information in advance in the vending machine described below. It is now possible to write the amount information sent from.

Next, an embodiment of a vending machine according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

The vending machine 11 shown in the figure has a card slot 13 for the card C on the front side of a box-shaped main body 12, and a 100 yen key 3 on the main body display using a liquid crystal display or the like.
A 4g amount ticket part 16 consisting of a 000 yen key, a 5000 yen key, and a 1000 yen key, a call key 17 and a cancel key 18, a ticket issuing button 19 for instructing ticket issuing, and a ticket issued by this vending machine 11 ( A receiving slot 20 for receiving tickets (tickets) is provided. The amount key part 15, the call key 17, the cancel key 18, and the ticket issue button 19 constitute an operation panel section 21.

As shown in FIG. 5, the control system of this vending machine 11 includes a discrimination control means 22 that controls the entire apparatus and performs a discrimination operation to be described later, and a card processing means as a medium processing means including the card insertion slot 13. means 23 , banknote processing means 24 as a value note processing means including the banknote inlet 15 , sales processing unit 25 including the receiving port 20 , and the main body display section 14
and the operation panel 21 are connected to each other.

The discrimination control means 22 includes a memory 26 that stores in advance an operation program necessary for the operation of this device, and a CPU that performs control operations and discrimination operations based on the operation program.
The control unit 27 includes a control unit 27 including a control unit 27 .

The card processing means 23 takes in the card C inserted into the card insertion slot 13, and processes information sent via the connection terminal section 4 of the card C (processing information by the information processing section 6 of the card C and The device is equipped with a card reading and writing section 28 that reads the amount information) and writes the amount information sent from the banknote processing means 24 in this device into the amount information recording and writing section 7 of the card C.

The banknote processing unit 24 includes a banknote processing unit 29 that takes in a banknote as a denomination note inserted from the banknote slot 15, reads the denomination column, determines authenticity, and sends out the read denomination information. are doing.

The sales processing means 25 includes a ticket issuing section 3Q that sends out a ticket corresponding to the processing information set in the card C to the receipt slot 20 based on the determination result of the determination control means 22. still,
FIG. 4 shows a card-based vending machine that handles cards C and banknotes.

Next, the ticket issuing operation using the card C will be explained with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 6.

First, the operation of setting ticket purchase information for the A company line and B company line for card C will be explained. In this case, card C
A user (1 person) takes the A company line from A station to C station,
The following explanation assumes that you transfer at station C and get off at station f on company B's line, and that the fare for this time is 1,000 yen.

While looking at the company line information on the back side 1b of his/her card C, the user first presses the departure station key 2f on the amount information input section 2, and
Next, enter the station name code ``1-01J'' for station a from the numeric keypad 2h.

Next, use the company line contact key 2a, the station name code i'-1-03J or "2-01J," which indicates C station on both company A line and company B line.
Input the station name code r2-03J of station f on Company B line one after another, and roughly input that there is one person using the number of adult tickets key 2b.

This purchase information is sequentially displayed on the display section 3 for the user's confirmation, and is also sent to the arithmetic processing section 10 via the card control section 8.

The calculation processing section 10 takes in the purchase information and executes the charge calculation in this case based on the operation program stored in the program memory. Then, when the user presses the total charge key 2d, the display unit 3 displays numerical information of l"1000 yen", which is the calculation result of the calculation processing unit]0, and character information indicating 1 adult. At the same time, these pieces of information are temporarily recorded in the information memory 9a as processing information.

The above operations complete the setting of purchase information for card C, and the user inputs the purchase information to card C in advance at an appropriate time before reaching the vending machine 11 and sets the desired processing information. It becomes possible to leave it there.

Next, the ticket issuing operation of the vending machine 11 based on the card C in which the processing information as described above is set will be explained.

When the user inserts the card C into the card slot 13 of the vending machine 11 (S11), the card reading/writing section 28
This card C is taken in and the processing information sent from the information memory 9a and the amount information recording/writing section 7 via the connection terminal section 4 and the amount information of the card C are read out.

At this time, the discrimination control means 22 controls the card reading/writing section 28.
5T2)) If the read image information is sent from the card reading/writing section 28, it is displayed on the main body display section 14.
(Sr1), and also determine whether the amount frame of the processing information is within the amount information frame.
4) If it is within the frame, wait for the user to press the confirmation button (not shown) (Sr1), and at the stage when this is pressed, instruct the ticket issuing unit 30 to issue a ticket according to the processing information, An instruction is given to the card reading/writing section 2B to release the card C. As a result, the ticket issuing unit 30 sends out the ticket to the receiving slot 20, and the card reading/writing unit 28 releases the card C to the card insertion slot 13 (Sr1). Incidentally, it is of course possible to display the ticket issue information and the card C release information on the main body display section 14.

On the other hand, in step 2 described above, if the processing information is not read by the card reading/writing section 28, that is, if the purchase information is not input to card C, or in step 4, if the processing information of card C indicates If the amount information exceeds the amount information of the card C itself, the determination control means 22 determines whether a banknote is inserted into the banknote processing unit 29 from the banknote slot 15 (Sr
1).

Then, when the banknote processing unit 29 reads the amount information of a 5,000 yen banknote, for example, when the confirmation button is pressed (Sr1), the discrimination control unit 22 determines whether or not the card C has been reduced in value due to the purchase of a ticket. An instruction to add amount information indicating 5,000 yen to the amount information recording and writing section 7 is sent to the card reading and writing section 28 (8-cho 9).

Thereby, the card reading/writing section 28 performs a rewriting process on the amount information recording/writing section 7 of the card C, and the balance after the rewriting is roughly displayed on the main body display section 14 (STIO).

After this, if no other purchase information has been entered into the card C by the user (STII), this card C is ejected to the card slot "13" (ST12) and returned to the user. If the purchase information is entered on Card C,
The process moves to step 3, and the operations described above are executed.

Furthermore, if the confirmation button is not pressed in step 5 and if the bill is not inserted in step 7, the determination control means 22 determines that ticket issuance is not possible at this time, and the call key 17 is pressed. If it is done (ST14)
, and is left to the staff's processing (ST15). Further, when the call key 17 is not pressed and the cancel key 18 is pressed, an instruction to release the card is given. As a result, the card C is ejected from the card reading/writing section 28 to the card insertion slot 13 (3 cards 16).

Next, modified examples of the ticket purchasing medium and the vending machine will be explained with reference to FIGS. 7 to 9. Note that the card CA as a ticket purchasing medium shown in FIG. 7 and FIG.

In the automatic vending machine 111A shown in FIG. 9, those having the same functions as the card C and the vending machine m11 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

The card CA shown in FIG. 7 is different from the card C mentioned above.
Instead of the amount information recording and writing section 7, an amount information recording section 7A for recording amount information (purchase amount information or remaining amount information) of the car FCA itself is connected to the card control section 8.

That is, unlike the card C, this card OA only has the function of sending amount information to the vending machine 11A.

Further, the vending machine 11A shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 differs from the vending machine 11 described above in that the banknote processing means 24 consisting of the denomination part 16, the banknote input slot 152 and the banknote processing section 29 is omitted. It is.

That is, this vending machine 11A functions as a dedicated device for card CA.

Next, regarding the ticket issuing operation using the card CA, the first
This will be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

The operation for setting the ticket purchase information for the A company line and B company line for the card CA is the same as that for the card C, which has already been done.

Card CA with purchase information set by the user is sent to vending machine 1
When the card is inserted into the card slot 13 of No. 1 (ST21), the card reading/writing section 28 takes in this card CA and processes the information sent from the information memory 9a and the amount information recording section 7A via the connection terminal section 4. The information and the amount information of the card CA are read and sent to the main body display section 14 under the control of the control section 27.

As a result, the main body display section 14 displays the processing information of 1 ticket for adults, 1000 yen (ST22).

Further, the control unit 27 compares and determines the amount information and the amount information included in the processing information as in step 4 described above, and determines whether the amount frame of the processing information is within the frame of the amount information. If so (ST23), the user presses the ticket issue button 19.
Waiting for the button to be pressed (ST24), it instructs the ticket issuing section 30 to issue a ticket according to the processing information, and also instructs the card reading/writing section 28 to release the card CA.

As a result, the ticket issuing section 30 performs a ticket issuing operation, and the card reading occupation section 28 performs a discharging operation of the card CA (ST2
5).

On the other hand, if the determination in step 23 described above is negative or if the ticket issuing button 19 is not pressed in step 24, if the user presses the call key 18 (ST
26) It is left to the staff's processing (ST27), and if the cancellation key 18 is not pressed, the card CA is released after the cancellation key 18 is pressed (ST29), and if the cancellation key 18 is not pressed, the process returns to step 22.

It goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and that various modifications can be made within the scope of the invention.

In addition to the vending machines in transportation facilities as described in the above embodiments, the present invention is also applicable to general food and drink vending machines, telephones, automatic guide devices, and game machines.

Needless to say, the present invention can be applied to various vending machines such as parking lot systems.

[Effect of the invention] According to the present invention described in detail above, the following effects are achieved.

According to the invention as claimed in claim 1, processing information necessary for sales can be set on the medium in advance, and price information can also be updated. It is possible to provide a purchasing medium for a vending machine that simplifies the purchasing operation and is also reusable.

Furthermore, according to the second aspect of the invention, it is possible to provide a purchase medium that exhibits effects other than the reusability of the purchase medium described above.

Furthermore, according to the third aspect of the invention, it is possible to provide a vending machine that takes in the ticket purchase medium according to the first aspect and performs a prompt vending operation.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of the purchase medium for vending machines according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a back view of the same medium, FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the control system of the same medium, and FIG. A front view showing an embodiment of the vending machine according to the present invention, FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the control system of the same side device, and FIG. 6 shows the purchasing medium for the vending machine and the vending machine according to the present embodiment. A flowchart showing the operation, FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a control system of a modification of the purchasing medium for a vending machine, FIG. 8 is a front view showing a modification of the vending machine, and FIG. 9 is a control of the same side device. FIG. 10, a block diagram showing the system, is a flowchart showing the operation of the purchasing media and vending machine on the same side. C...Card as purchase medium, 2...Purchase information input section, 3...Display section, 4...
・Connection terminal section, 6... Information processing section, 7...
Amount information record writing section, 11... Vending machine, 22...
-Discrimination control means, 23...media processing means, 24.
...Banknote processing means, 25...Sales processing means. ＼ Figure 6A

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A purchase information input section for inputting purchase information regarding goods or services to be purchased from a vending machine, and information processing for processing the purchase information input from this purchase information input section necessary for purchasing the goods or services. , an amount information recording writing section which records the amount information of the medium itself in advance and is capable of writing amount information sent from the outside, and purchase information from the purchase information input section or processing by the information processing section. A card-like base is provided with a display section that displays information, and an information transmission section that transmits processing information by the information processing section and pre-recorded amount information to the outside, and also receives amount information from the outside. A purchasing medium for vending machines featuring: (2) A purchase information input section for inputting purchase information for the goods or services to be purchased; an information processing section for processing the purchase information from the purchase information input section necessary for purchasing the goods or services; a price information recording section that records price information of the medium itself; a display section that displays purchase information from the purchase information input section or processing information by the information processing section;
A purchasing medium for a vending machine, characterized in that an information transmitting section for transmitting processing information by the information processing section and the amount information to the outside is provided on a card-like base. (3) Import the purchase medium and read the processing information for purchasing goods or services preset by this purchase medium and the amount information recorded in the amount information recording section provided on this purchase medium. a medium processing means that reads and rewrites the amount information; an amount ticket processing means that reads the amount information of the amount ticket that is input into the device; a determination control means that determines the suitability of processing information for ticket purchase and controls rewriting of the amount information recording writing section of the purchase medium; A vending machine characterized by having a sales processing means for providing goods or services.