JPH0137903B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to a public telephone that stores a plurality of types of coins in one storage track in the order in which they are inserted. [Prior art] Conventionally, in public telephones that can accept multiple types of coins, such as low-denomination coins and high-denomination coins, coin slots, sorting tracks, storage tracks, etc. are generally provided specifically for each type of coin. However, it has the disadvantage that both the component parts and the size of the structure are large, and the user also has the inconvenience of having to check the slot according to the type of coin he or she wants to insert. [Problem to be solved by the invention] On the other hand, in the case where the accumulation trajectory is set to one and various coins are mixed and accumulated in the order of insertion,
Although the above-mentioned drawbacks can be solved, on the other hand, there is no choice but to store the accumulated coins sequentially starting from the lowest value, and it is not possible to adopt an arbitrary storage method such as giving priority to low denomination coins or high value coins, for example. Therefore, it was naturally impossible to take measures to minimize damage to users' change. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a system for storing coins of various types in a single storage track, while allowing the public to store any coins they wish to store. The purpose is to provide telephones. [Means for Solving the Problems] The structure and operation of the present invention will be explained with reference to the block diagram of the basic structure of the present invention shown in FIG. The present invention consists of the following means as shown in FIG. (a) Coin sorting means A having the function of determining whether the inserted coin is genuine coin or not and the function of determining the type of coin, (b) Accumulation trajectory etc. after being sorted by the coin sorting means A (c) Which of the accumulated coins should be stored based on the contents stored in the storage means B, that is, the order and type of the accumulated coins and the uncollected call charge. (d) According to the selection result of which accumulated coins should be stored, selected by the selection means C, the coins that should be stored are stored in the storage track, etc.; Coin sorting means D for sorting coins to be returned to the passageways and coins to be returned to the return passageways respectively. [Operation] When a coin is inserted into a public telephone, the coin sorting means A (coin sorting device 31 in Figs. 1 and 2) determines whether or not the coin is a genuine coin and its type (denomination). After that, the accumulation trajectory (accumulation trajectory 104 in Figure 2)
etc. are accumulated in the order of input. The accumulation order and type (denomination) of the accumulated coins are stored in storage means B (see Figure 1).
(provided in a specific area of the RAM 24). At the end of a call or during a call, the storage contents of the storage means B, such as the order of accumulation of coins and their types, and the uncollected call charge memory (provided in a part of the RAM 24 in FIG. 1), etc. The selecting means C (steps 1044 to 1052 in FIG. 8) selects which coins to be stored among the accumulated coins based on the uncollected call charge which is the sum of the stored toffli for each charge. Ru. Based on this selection result, the coin sorting means D (storage lever 105, return lever 106, etc. in FIG. 2) operates one of the levers to send the lowest coin to either passage depending on whether it is stored or returned. Similarly, all accumulated coins are sorted into the storage aisle or return aisle in order. With this configuration, even if multiple types of coins are accumulated in one accumulation track, it is possible to adopt any storage method that causes minimal damage to the user, such as giving priority to low denomination coins or high value coins. . [Embodiment] Configuration Description FIG. 1 is a circuit configuration diagram showing an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a central power supply type public telephone. In this embodiment, by removing the handset (off-hook), a line is established with the exchange without waiting for coins to be inserted, and after a certain number of calls have been made, coins equivalent to the cost of the call during that time are collected. to store,
This is an example of adopting the so-called front-loop/back-storing method to minimize damage to the user's change.The overall configuration can be roughly divided into a normal telephone circuit section 10; Receiving a billing signal from an exchanger (not shown), storing and storing coins.
A control unit 20 that controls return etc., and a control unit 20
The coin processing section 30 actually detects and sorts coins based on instructions from the coin processing section 30, stores them in a safe (not shown), or returns them. In addition to this, a switch 40, a relay control circuit 50, a display circuit 6
0, and a numeric keypad keyboard 70 having a 3×4 matrix configuration. The telephone circuit 10 is connected to an exchange (not shown) via a central office line through central office line terminals L1 and L2. The office line terminals L1 and L2 have a bell circuit 11 that notifies the incoming call, a charging signal receiving circuit 12 that detects the charging signal from the exchange, a diode bridge circuit 13, a relay contact g _s , and a dial pulse sending circuit. A forced disconnection circuit 14, a power supply circuit 15, and a communication circuit 16 are connected in sequence. In the above configuration, when the handset is placed in the on-hook state, the contacts g _{and s} are in the state shown in the figure.
If you turn off the hook in this state, the switch 4 will turn off.
0 turns on, the relay control circuit 50 works, and the contact
g _s switches to the side opposite to that shown in the diagram (hereinafter, this is referred to as operating or turning on, and returning to the state shown in the diagram is referred to as restoring or turning off). This results in
A DC loop including a dial pulse sending and forced disconnection circuit 14 and a call circuit 16 is closed to the office line terminals L1 and L2. Here, a transistor is inserted in the circuit 14 in series with the DC loop, and although it is always on, it is repeatedly turned on and off in response to a dial signal from the control section 20. By sending a dial pulse to the exchange side to notify the other party's subscriber number, and also receiving continuous off signals from the control unit 20, it becomes continuously off, and the contacts g _{and s} are put into the operating state. The DC loop can be forcibly cut off as it is. The reason why the DC loop is closed and opened through the relay contact g _s is that this public telephone uses a rear storage system, so even after the switch 40 is turned off, unrecorded calls can still be made. This is because a power source is required to settle charges. That is, the circuit 13 forcibly disconnects the DC loop, notifies the exchange that the call has ended, and after recovery, turns on again and performs the settlement process using the power of the power supply circuit 15, which is charged by the current from the exchange. can be done. Note that while the dial pulse is being sent, the telephone call circuit 16 is short-circuited by the dial shunt signal input from the control section 20, so that the calling party is not affected by noise due to the dial pulse. In addition, the power supply circuit 15 uses the Zener voltage of the constant voltage diodes ZD1 and ZD2 generated by the loop current to control the reverse current blocking diodes D1, D2, D3,
Capacitors C1, C2, C3 via D4, D5
are charged to each unit, and the voltage at these terminals is set to the power supply voltage.
It is supplied to the control unit 20 and coin processing unit 30 as VEE, VMG, and VDD, and the capacitor C1
is charged only when off-hook, but capacitor C
2, C3 is charged even when on-hook, so that the power supply voltage VEE, which is always required for backing up the variable memory 24 (described later) of the control unit 20, and the consumption required to operate the electromagnet when processing coins are saved. A strong power supply voltage VMG is ensured. Note that the diode bridge circuit 13 is intended to keep the polarity of the voltage applied to the circuit 15 and the communication circuit 16 constant regardless of the polarity of the DC voltage from the exchange applied between the office line terminals L1 and L2. be. The control unit 20 includes a well-known input/output port 21, a central processing unit (hereinafter referred to as CPU) 22, a fixed memory (hereinafter referred to as ROM) 23, and a variable memory (hereinafter referred to as ROM).
In addition to the RAM 24, a timing circuit 25 and a variable condition setting circuit 26 are further provided. This timing circuit 25 is composed of an oscillation circuit that generates a pulse with a period of 25 ms, and is used to give an interrupt signal to the CPU 22 to cause the main program to perform interrupt processing at 25 ms, as described later. It is something. Further, the variable condition setting circuit 26 is for arbitrarily setting, for example, the call time per unit charge in a local call and the unit call charge per charge, that is, the tariff, and is constituted by a digital switch or the like. In the above configuration, when the hook switch 40 is turned on due to off-hook, the contact _gs is operated by the relay control circuit 50, the DC loop is closed, and the capacitor C1 of the power supply circuit 15 is charged. As a result, the power supply voltage VDD is supplied to the CPU 22, and the CPU 22 executes predetermined control operations while writing and reading necessary data to and from the RAM 24 according to the processing program stored in the ROM 23 in advance. This operation will be explained in detail later using a flowchart. The coin processing section 30 is composed of a coin sorting device 31, a storage magnet 32, a storage magnet 33, and a return magnet 34. Here, the coin sorting device 31 is used to determine whether or not the inserted coin is a genuine coin that is scheduled to be used in this telephone, and to determine the denomination of the coin if it is a genuine coin. A coin outer diameter identification device equipped with an optical sensor consisting of a light-emitting element and a light-receiving element arranged facing each other across the falling trajectory; The coin material sorting device includes a detection coil consisting of a transmitting coil and a receiving coil. That is, the former utilizes the fact that the time that a falling coin blocks the optical path between the light emitting and light receiving elements differs depending on the outer diameter of the coin, while the latter utilizes the fact that the peak value of the output voltage induced in the receiving coil is between the two coils. The coin sorting device 31 utilizes the fact that it differs depending on the material of the intervening coin, but all of these are known, and in the application of the present invention, the structure of the coin sorting device 31 is not limited to this, and any other arbitrary structure can be used. Since this sorting means can be used, a detailed explanation will be omitted. Based on the sorting results of the outer diameter and material sorting device, genuine coins are determined to be fake coins. If genuine coins, a sorting signal corresponding to the type is sent to the CPU 22 and stored in a certain area of the RAM 24. For example, the coins used are 100 yen, 50 yen, and 20 yen.
If there are four denominations, yen and 10 yen, the 8-bit memory area with a specific memory address in the RAM 24 is used as the coin input memory, and the lower 4 bits correspond to each denomination, and the 100 yen coin is If there is a sorting signal input indicating that the coin is in By looking at the contents of the input memory, it is possible to confirm which denomination of genuine coin has been input. In addition, from the coin sorting device 331 to the control unit 20
The reason why the signal line for `` is diagonally shaded and the number ``4'' is attached next to it indicates that a signal line for sending a selection signal is provided for each of the four denominations. In addition, the detection and selection of inserted coins as described above is
As will be described later, the edge detection processing step is placed at the beginning of the interrupt processing program and is performed every 25 ms. The storage magnet 32, the storage magnet 33, and the return magnet 34 operate an accumulation lever, a storage lever, and a return lever, which will be described later, respectively, and are operated by an operation command signal from the control section 20. A supplementary explanation of these will be provided later using FIG. 2. The display circuit 60 is composed of, for example, a well-known 7-segment display type display and a display control circuit that controls the display, and the display circuit 60 is configured to display a total amount of accumulated coins minus uncollected call charges based on the control of the control unit 20. The amount of coins used, that is, the credit value, is displayed and notified to the caller. Although the configuration of the display 60 is not particularly limited, a liquid crystal display, for example, is suitable from the viewpoint of suppressing power consumption. The overall circuit configuration of the public telephone according to this embodiment has been described above, and FIG. 2 shows an outline of its track configuration. In FIG. 2, coins 101 inserted from a coin input port 100 are sorted by a coin sorting device 31 while rolling down an inclined sorting track 102. As shown by arrow A, the lower end of the sorting track 102 leads to a return port (not shown), and a storage lever 103 is disposed in the middle of the path, and this storage lever 103 is attracted and operated by the excitation of the storage magnet 32. If withdrawn from orbit, 10 coins
1 enters the accumulation trajectory 104. The storage track 104 also consists of an inclined track, and the storage magnet 3 is located at the lower end of the track.
A storage lever 105 and a return lever 106, which are attracted and operated by the excitation of the return magnet 34 and the return magnet 34, are arranged. The above storage lever 105
And when the return lever 106 is not activated, the coins 101 are stored in this storage track 104. In this embodiment, the storage capacity is 5 sheets. On the other hand, when the storage lever 105 is operated and withdrawn from the track, the coin 101 is stored in a safe (not shown) as shown by arrow B. Further, when the return lever 106 is operated and withdrawn from the track, the coin 101 is guided to the return port as shown by arrow C.
Note that the specific configurations of each of the above magnets and levers are arbitrary. Operation explanation Next, the operation of the public telephone with the above configuration is as follows.
This will be explained using the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 3 to 8. Note that the explanation here is limited to the scope necessary for understanding the flow of processing specific to the present invention, and the details of well-known processing operations that are naturally required for control using a CPU are not provided. It has been omitted. Explanation of the overall operation The overall flow of the operation of the main routine shown in FIG. 3 and the interrupt routine shown in FIG. 4 will be explained seriously. As mentioned earlier, in this example, the third
An interrupt signal is input to the main routine shown in the figure at a cycle of 25 ms, and the routine shown in FIG. 4 is interrupted. Although the time actually required for processing the interrupt routine is not constant depending on the case, processing is started every 25 ms, and the process of returning to the main routine processing after passing through a series of steps is repeated. That is, first, when the caller removes the handset from the on-hook state, the contact gs operates as described above, the DC loop is closed, and the supply of the power supply voltage VDD becomes possible. Therefore, the control unit 20 controls the predetermined power supply voltage VDD.
When supplied, initialization processing step 1000 in FIG. 3 is executed. That is, the CPU 22
The ROM 23 is accessed and each memory area of the RAM 24, the buffer memory of the input/output port 21, etc. are initialized. At the final stage of this initialization process, the operation of the coin sorting device 31 is permitted, and interrupts are permitted and the timing circuit 2
5 starts sending an interrupt signal. Therefore, from now on, the CPU 22 executes the process shown in the interrupt routine in FIG. 4 once every 25 ms, regardless of the progress of the main routine in FIG. 3. Next, an outline of this interrupt routine will be explained. That is, when the execution of the program shifts to interrupt processing, the edge detection processing step 2000 is first performed.
is executed. Here, each input signal input from the speaker circuit section 10 and the coin processing section 30 via the input/output port 21 is checked, and data representing the results is stored in a predetermined memory area of the RAM 24. For example, when a billing signal is input through the billing signal receiving circuit 12, the content of the billing flag memory is set to "1" and a billing flag indicating the arrival of the billing signal is set. Further, if a sorting signal is input from the coin sorting device 31, data indicating the insertion of the coin is written into the coin insertion memory as described above. Next, the program execution moves to dial control processing step 2001. That is, keyboard 7
If there is an input from a push-button dial configured with 0, the type of dialed number is determined, such as whether it is within the city or outside the city, and whether it is a toll-free or prohibited number. A detailed explanation will be omitted since it is not directly related to the gist. When the dial control process is completed, the program execution then moves to display process step 2002. Here, as described above, processing is performed to display the credit amount on the display device constituting the display circuit 60, but since this is not directly related to the gist of the present invention, further explanation will be omitted. Next, the program execution moves to billing calculation processing step 2003. Here, it is checked whether or not a flag is set in the charge flag memory, and if it is set, the contents of the uncollected call charge memory provided in a part of the RAM 24 are updated. That is, this memory stores data indicating uncollected call charges, and therefore 1
A tariff will be added to each charge. Similarly, the tariff amount is subtracted from the contents of the credit memory indicating the credit. If the result of this subtraction is that the credit is less than 0, the contents of the hook processing flag memory provided in the specific area of the RAM 24 are set to "1" and the hook processing flag is set. On the other hand, if the billing flag is not set, the program execution immediately moves to the next coin insertion process step 2004. In this coin insertion process step 2004, as will be described in detail later using the flowchart of FIG. 5, coin insertion is checked based on the contents of the coin insertion memory, and the storage magnet 32 is operated under certain conditions. and allow the accumulation of coins. In the next timer processing step 2005,
Depending on the contents of the various timer request flag memories provided in the RAM 24, if the flags are set, the contents of each timer also provided in the RAM 24 are incremented by "1". That is, while the timer request flag is set,
Since the contents of the timer are incremented every 25ms, time can be measured based on the contents of this timer. Program execution then moves to dialing processing step 2006. Here, in response to input from the keyboard 70, a dial signal indicating the number of the called party is sent to the exchange and notified. After completing the interrupt routine once in this way,
Program execution returns to the main routine again,
Processing resumes from the interrupted position. Now, in the main routine shown in Figure 3,
When the initialization processing step 1000 is completed, the program execution begins at the self-diagnosis processing step 1.
Move to 001. This is to self-diagnose whether there is a coin jam or other failure using various sensors (not shown) arranged on the coin track, but the actual output state of the sensor system is detected in the edge detection processing step 2000. A flag indicating the diagnosis result is set in a predetermined flag memory. Therefore, the process itself in step 1001 is to check the contents of a predetermined flag register, but since it is not directly related to the gist of the present invention, a detailed explanation will be omitted. If it is confirmed that there is no abnormality, the execution of the program moves to call permission processing step 1002, and the return magnet 34 is operated to set the return lever 106 in the coin return inhibiting state, thereby making it possible to store coins. Therefore, if the calling party inserts a coin and performs a dialing operation, and the called party answers, a telephone conversation is started. Next, the execution of the program moves to step 1003 for determining whether or not it is on-hook, and if it is confirmed by checking the input signal from the switch 40 that the off-hook continues, the program moves to step 1004 for determining storage. On the other hand, if on-hook is confirmed, the process moves to step 1008, where a hook processing flag is set, and then the process moves to hook processing step 1009, which will be described later. In storage determination processing step 1004, as will be explained in detail later using the flowchart of FIG. 6, it is determined whether or not the lowest accumulated coin should be stored, according to certain conditions. Next, the program is executed in step 1 of determining whether the hook processing flag is set.
If it moves to 005 and the flag is set,
The process moves to hook processing step 1009. If the flag is not set, the process moves to the next storage processing step 1006. In this storage processing step 1006, as will be explained in detail later using the flowchart of FIG. 7, the lowest coin is actually stored based on the result previously determined in the storage determination processing step 1004. Next, the program is executed in step 1 of determining whether the hook processing flag is set.
The process moves to step 007, and if the flag is set, the process moves to hook processing step 1009. If the flag is not set, the process returns to step 1003. Thereafter, as long as the call continues effectively, the processes from step 1003 to step 1007 are repeatedly executed. In the hook processing step 1009, the transistor of the dial pulse sending and forced disconnection circuit 14 is turned off, thereby disconnecting the DC loop for only 800 ms while keeping the contact gs in the operating state. As a result, the exchange can be notified of the end of the call, and the power circuit can proceed to the next payment processing step 1010 while maintaining the same state as when off-hook. It should be noted that at this point, the exchange is restored, so the billing signal no longer arrives. In the settlement process step 1010, as will be explained later using the flowchart of FIG. 8, a combination of accumulated coins is selected to settle uncollected call charges in a manner that minimizes the loss of change for the user. do. Next, the program execution moves to storage processing step 1011. Here, each accumulated coin is stored or returned in order from the lowest coin according to the combination selected in the payment processing step 1010. The program itself is the same as the storage processing step 1006 described above, and the seventh
This will be explained in detail using the flowchart shown in the figure. Next, the program execution begins in termination processing step 1.
Transition to 012. Here, confirm that the predetermined display time for the final refund amount determined in the payment process has elapsed, and that the power supply voltage VMG is 4.5V.
After confirming that the battery is charged to the above level and that the on-hook state continues, connect the contact gs.
restore. Next, as mentioned earlier, each step of the coin insertion process, storage judgment process, storage process, and payment process will be explained in detail using the flowcharts shown in Figures 5 to 8. To make this easier, some particularly important memories are listed in the table below, and their configurations are summarized and explained. These memories are provided using specific areas of the RAM 24, and each has a capacity of 8 bits, similar to the coin insertion memory, uncollected call charge memory, credit memory, etc. described above.

〔Effect of the invention〕

That is, according to the present invention, each coin accumulated in one accumulation track can be freely distributed to the storage path and the return path, so that any coin can be distributed according to any storage method including the minimum damage method. In addition to being able to store coins, the number of components and size can be reduced, and the user can insert coins arbitrarily from a single coin slot without having to check the type of coin each time, making it easy to handle. Has excellent effects.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention;
Fig. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the coin trajectory of the public telephone shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of the main routine program in the control section of the public telephone shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 is also an interrupt diagram. Flowchart showing an example of a routine program, No. 5
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of a coin insertion processing routine program, FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of a storage judgment processing routine program, and FIG.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of the storage judgment processing routine program; FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of the payment processing routine program; FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing another example of the storage judgment processing routine program; FIG. 10 1 is a block diagram showing the basic configuration of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... Telephone circuit, 20... Control unit, 21... Input/output port, 22... Central processing unit, 23... Fixed memory, 24... Variable memory, 30... Coin processing unit, 31
...Coin sorting device, 32...Storage magnet, 33...
Storage magnet, 34...Return magnet, 102
... Sorting track, 103... Accumulation lever, 104... Accumulation track, 105... Storage lever, 106... Return lever.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A coin that determines whether or not an inserted coin is a genuine coin and its type in a coin-receiving public telephone that stores multiple types of coins in one storage track in the order in which they are inserted. a sorting means; a memory means for storing the types of coins in the order of accumulation based on the output of the coin sorting means; a selection means for selecting accumulated coins to be collected from the contents of the memory means and uncollected call charges; A public telephone set comprising a coin sorting means for sorting accumulated coins into a storage passage and a return passage according to the selection result of the selection means. 2. The scope of claims characterized in that the selection means selects, as accumulated coins to be collected at the end of a call, a combination of accumulated coins that is equal to or greater than the uncollected call charge and has a total value that is closest to the uncollected call charge. Public telephone set forth in paragraph 1.