JPH01246691A - Prepaid card reader - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily cope with a claim from a user by temporarily holding a used card when a used card is fetched to a accommodating part. CONSTITUTION:For a card 12 fetched by a conveyor 20, the remainder is read by a magnetic head 28. The new remainder is written to the card 12 by a head 30 for writing and the card 12 to write the remainder is returned to an input port 18. The card 12, in which the remainder is 0 or negative, is sent to an exhaust port 34. The exhaust port 34 becomes a temporary holding means to hold one card 12. When the another used card 12 is sent to the exhaust port 34, the card 12 held at the exhaust port 34 drops to an accommodating part 36 and is accommodated in it.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a prepaid card reader device that is attached to a vending machine or the like for prepaid cards purchased by paying a predetermined amount of money in advance.

(Background of the Invention) There is a vending machine in which a prepaid card with a certain amount of money is purchased in advance, and the prepaid card can be used to purchase tickets, products, and the like. In this case, the remaining amount of the prepaid card is stored in this prepaid card, and each time you purchase a ticket or product, this purchase amount is subtracted from the read remaining amount, and the result of this subtraction is used as the new remaining amount. It writes on the card and returns the card to the user. Also, when the remaining amount reaches zero, returning the used card may cause it to be scattered around or be misused, so please be careful not to take the used card into the vending machine and return it to the user. It is also being considered.

On the other hand, users sometimes complain if the vending machine malfunctions or if the card is damaged.

In this case, if the used card is taken into the vending machine as an already used card and mixed with other used cards, it becomes impossible to find the card that is the subject of the complaint, and the cause of the complaint cannot be found. The problem was that it was no longer possible to investigate. Additionally, some users may be required to return the card.

(Object of the Invention) The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is possible to take out a used card in a storage section inside the device and store it as needed, such as when a complaint is received. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a prepaid card reader device that can be used for investigating the cause or can be returned.

(Structure of the Invention) According to the present invention, this purpose is to take in a prepaid card, read the remaining amount, and subtract the amount used.

In a prepaid card reader device that writes the result of this subtraction as a new balance amount on a prepaid card and returns it to the user, there is provided a storage means for taking a card with a zero balance amount into a storage section inside the device without returning the card, This is achieved by a prepaid card reader device characterized by comprising a temporary holding means that temporarily holds the card in use before taking it into the storage means so that the card can be taken out.

(Example) FIG. 1 is an operational block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the device, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line ■-■.

In FIG. 2.3, the prepaid card reader device is installed in, for example, a vending machine or a telephone. card 12
is made of a thick plastic plate or the like, and a tape-shaped magnetic recording section 14 is formed on the side thereof parallel to the long side of the card 12. This league device IO has case 16.
A card passage is formed so as to cross the. That is, on one side of the case 16 there is a vertically elongated slot 18 that is open diagonally upward.
is attached, and a pair of belt conveyors 20, 20 are disposed continuously from the input port 18 so as to face each other. This belt conveyor 20 has pulleys 22.
One pulley 22 is driven forward and backward by a motor 26. Cards 12 inserted through the slot 18 are caught between belt conveyors 20 and 20 and taken into the case 16. This function corresponds to the card importing means 100 in FIG.

On the travel trajectory of the magnetic recording section 14 of the card 12, there are a reading magnetic head 28 as a remaining amount reading means 102 and a writing magnetic head 3 as a remaining amount writing means 104.
0 is arranged. 32 is a control device consisting of a microcomputer or the like.

34 is a vertical groove-shaped discharge port that is continuous with the exit of the belt conveyor 20, 20 and opens obliquely upward. This discharge port 34 temporarily holds cards sent by the belt conveyor 20. Therefore, when the primary card 12B (Fig. 2) is sent here, the card 12A held here is pushed out and falls from the ejection port 34, and enters the storage section 36 arranged below it. .

Next, the operation will be explained. The remaining amount of the card 12 taken in by the conveyor 20 (FIG. 1, card taking means Zoo) is read by the magnetic head 28, and the remaining amount a is input to the control means 32.

The amount spent by the user is input to this control means 32, and the difference (a-b) between the two is calculated (subtraction means 10
B), this difference (a-b) is also the new remaining amount of this card 12, and whether this is positive or negative is determined by the remaining amount determining means 108 of the control means 32. If this is positive, there is still a balance and the card 12 can be used, so this balance (a-b) is written by the writing head 30 (writing means 104), and the control means 32 reverses the motor 26. The card 12 is then returned to the slot 18 and returned (return means 110). If the remaining amount (a-b) is zero or negative, the card 12 is considered to have been used and the belt conveyor 20 ejects the card 12. Send to exit 34. outlet 34 with
is capable of holding one card 12A, and serves as a -time holding means 112. Therefore, even in the unlikely event that the card 12 is not returned due to a malfunction of the device and the card 12 itself is not returned, this card 12 will be temporarily held here, so it can easily be the cause of the problem. The card 12 can be taken out from the outlet 34, and the card 12 can be returned to the user as the case may be.

Incidentally, the used card temporarily reserved in the ejection port 34 is pushed out from the ejection port 34 when another used card is sent here, and falls into the storage section 36. (Accommodating means 114) In the above embodiment, the temporary holding means 112 holds only one used card, but the present application also includes a system in which a plurality of cards can be held.

It goes without saying that reading and writing to the card may be done not only magnetically, but also by other methods such as a rewritable optical disk.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, the present invention temporarily retains used cards when taking them into the storage unit.
When a user makes a complaint, the card in the temporary holding means can be immediately taken out, the cause of the problem investigated, and the card returned to the user.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an operational block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view of the device, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 1--m. 12... Prepaid card, 34... Ejection port, 36... Accommodation section. 112...-time retention means, 114... accommodation means. Patent Applicant Shibaura Seisakusho Co., Ltd. Representative Patent Attorney Yama 1) Written by Eloquent Buried Earth 1) Hiro Shi 1G Figure 2 Figure 5

Claims (1)

[Claims] A prepaid card reader device that takes in a prepaid card, reads the remaining amount, subtracts the amount used, writes the result of this subtraction as a new remaining amount on the prepaid card, and returns it to the user. A prepaid card characterized by comprising a storage means for taking it into a storage section inside the device without returning it, and a temporary holding means for temporarily holding the card in use before taking it into the storage means so that it can be taken out. reader device.