JPH02140763A - Prepaid card for copying machine and management system for copying machine by use of prepaid card - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate the troublesome work of the manager of a copying machine by rewriting numerical value to the remaining usable quantity of the copying machine according to the used quantity, holding it and allowing the copying machine not to be used when and after the usable quantity of the copying machine becomes zero. CONSTITUTION:The title card is constituted of a card base substance 11 made of a thin sheet material and a recording and holding part 12 of the number of usable sheets of the copying machine formed on the card base substance 11. In the recording and holding part 12, the numerical value of prescribed number of usable sheets of the copying machine according to the prepaid amount is held at first and the number of usable sheets of the copying machine is successively written to be held in place of the last number of usable sheets of the copying machine according to the number of used sheets of the copying machine. Then, by interlocking with a card reading/ writing device, the use of the copying machine is stopped when the aforesaid usable quantity becomes zero. Thus, the manager of the copying machine can collect the usage charge for the copying machine in advance, so that his troublesome work such as the demand for the copying machine usage charge can be eliminated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a management system for a copying machine, and more particularly to a prepaid card for a copying machine and a management system for a copying machine using a prepaid card.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, as a management system for copying machines, an ID card is distributed to each unit or company, and the ID card is used to manage the number of copies used by the copying machine for each distribution destination. There is.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a conventional copying machine management system, in which 31 is a copying machine, 32 is a control device, 331 and I
A D card reading device, 34 a display device, and 35 an ID card.

In the conventional copying machine management system shown in FIG. Read the recorded ID. If it is determined that the ID belongs to a proper user, a signal is given to the control device 32 to enable use of the copying machine 31. In that case, the relevant ID
The total number of copies made using the card 35 is retrieved from the storage section in the control device 32 using the ID as a key, and the value is displayed on the display device 34.

When the user performs copying work, the number of copies is sequentially counted by a counter in the control device 32.
The counted value is added to the cumulative value in the storage section, and the same value is displayed on the display device 34. When the user finishes the copying work and removes the ID card 35 from the ID card reading device 33, the cumulative number of copies at that time is newly stored in the storage section and is prepared for next use. do it like this.

On the other hand, the administrator of the copying machine 31 inspects the copying machine 31 at the end of each month, and stores the cumulative number of sheets used in the month in the storage section of the control device 32 for each department or company to which ID cards 35 have been distributed. Read from. The usage fee corresponding to the number of sheets used is then transferred to each department or billed to each company.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In such conventional copying machine management systems, the copying machine manager regularly checks the number of copies being used by the copying machine, and transfers or charges usage fees to each ID card distribution destination according to the number of copies used. must be carried out,
It was extremely time-consuming. Furthermore, on the user side of the copying machine, there is a problem in that it is impossible to predict the number of sheets to be used in the copying machine, and it is not easy to manage it.

The present invention is intended to solve the above-mentioned problems, and by managing the number of copies used in a copying machine using a so-called "prepaid card" that uses a prepaid fee system instead of the conventional ID card system, it is possible for a copying machine manager to The purpose is to eliminate the complicated work of copying machines, and to enable copying machine users to easily manage the number of copies.

[Means to solve the problem]

To this end, the copier management system according to the present invention reads a prepaid card and the usable amount of the copier stored in the prepaid card, and sequentially decreases the usable amount as the copier is used. a card reading/writing device that writes a new usable amount to a prepaid card as a new available amount; a display device that displays the available amount stored on the prepaid card; and a display device that operates in conjunction with the card reading/writing device to write the available amount to zero. The present invention is characterized in that it comprises a control device that stops the use of the copying machine when the copying machine is reached.

In addition, the prepaid card for this purpose holds a numerical value for the number of copies that can be used for a predetermined number of copies depending on the initial payment amount and the number of copies used, and the remaining number of copies can be used depending on the amount of copies used. This feature is characterized in that the usable amount of the copier is rewritten and held to the previous usable amount of the copier, and the copier is disabled from being usable after the usable amount of the copier reaches zero.

[Effect]

According to the prepaid card of the present invention, the number of copies that can be used for a predetermined number of copies is held according to the initial payment amount and the usage of the copying machine, so the number of copies that can be made is limited to the amount that can be copied according to the initial payment amount. can be made available for use. Furthermore, according to a copier management system using a prepaid card, the copier manager can collect the copier usage fee in advance, eliminating the need for complicated billing procedures for copying machine usage fees. Can be done. Furthermore, the user of the copying machine does not have to be billed for regular usage fees, and can set the usable amount of the copying machine in advance, making it easy to manage the amount of copies to be made.

〔Example〕

Examples will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a prepaid card according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of a copying machine management system according to the present invention.

In the figure, ■ is a prepaid card, 11 is the card base, 12
21 is the copier usable number record holding unit, 22 is the copier.
is a control device, 23 is a card reading/writing device, 2
4 is a display device.

First, one embodiment of the prepaid card of the present invention will be explained with reference to FIG. This prepaid card 1 includes a card base 11 made of a thin sheet material, and a card base 11 made of a thin sheet material.
It consists of a copying machine usable sheet number record holding section 12 formed on the top. The copy machine usable number record holding unit 12 initially stores a predetermined number of copies that can be used in accordance with the payment amount, and sequentially stores the number of copies that can be used in the copy machine in accordance with the number of copies used. The available number of sheets can be written and retained by replacing it with the previous number of usable sheets of the copying machine. In addition, in order to be able to visually know the remaining number of copies that can be used by the copier immediately from the prepaid card 1, for example, a number may be printed in the margin of the card base 11, and the corresponding number of remaining copies may be displayed. It may also be displayed by perforating the area.

Next, one embodiment of the copying machine management system according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

First, when a person who intends to use the copying machine 21 inserts the prepaid card 1 into the card reading/writing device 23, the card reading/writing device 23 retains a record of the prepaid card 1 in the copying machine usable number record holding unit 12. The number of usable sheets (remaining number) of the copier is read, and the value of the number of sheets is displayed on the display device 24. At this time, if the number of usable sheets (remaining number) of the copying machine is not zero, the control device 22 outputs a command signal S1 to the copying machine 21 to make it usable. When the user actually performs copying work using the copying machine 21, the control device 22 receives the pilling signal S2 output from the copying machine 21 every time one copy is made, and Subtraction is performed sequentially from the value of the number of usable sheets (remaining number) of the copying machine, and the results are displayed on the display device 24. Finally, the user finishes the copying operation and uses the card reading/writing device 2.
When you press the card ejection button (not shown) in 3.
Prepaid card 1 usable copy number record holding unit 1
Number of usable copies recorded in 2 (remaining number)
Subtract the current frequency of use from. Then, the result is written as the new number of sheets that can be used by the copying machine (remaining number) by the card reading/writing device 23 into the number of sheets that can be used for the copying machine record holding section 12 of the prepaid card 1, and then the prepaid card 1 is transferred to the card. The reading/writing device 23 is used to discharge the data.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications are possible. For example, in general copying machines, A3, A4, A5, B4, B5, etc.
It is now possible to copy on paper of different sizes and series, such as . Therefore, in the above explanation, the number of copies is managed, but when the paper sizes differ in this way, rather than simply managing them as the same number of copies, the number of copies is calculated based on the copy area and the number of equivalent copies common to each paper. Copying machine usage may be managed using other criteria. For example, an A3 size copy is counted as two A4 size copies. Further, for a color copying machine, the usage amount of the copying machine may be counted and managed for each toner used depending on monochrome or color copying.

For example, when yellow, magenta, cyan, and black toners are used for color copying, the number is counted four times as much as when only black toner is used.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the copying machine management system using a prepaid card of the present invention, the copying machine manager can collect the copying machine usage fee in advance, thereby eliminating the need for complicated copying machine usage fees. Billing operations can be abolished. Furthermore, it is also possible to reduce the copying machine usage fee by the amount that such tasks are abolished. Furthermore, since the copying machine user does not have to pay regular usage fees and can limit the number of copies and the amount of copies to be used in advance, it becomes easier to manage the number of copies used by the copying machine. Therefore, overuse of the copying machine can also be prevented.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing one embodiment of a prepaid card according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a copying machine management system according to the present invention.
FIG. 3, which is a diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment, is a diagram for explaining a conventional copying machine management system. I... Prepaid card, 11... Card base, 1
2... Copy machine usable number record holding unit, 21... Copy machine, 22... Control device, 23... Card reading/writing device, 24... Display device, 35... ID
card. Applicant: Shimizu Corporation

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A predetermined value for the usable amount of the copier is maintained according to the initial payment amount, and as the copier is used sequentially, the remaining usable amount of the copier is rewritten and retained as the previous available amount of the copier. At the same time, a prepaid card for a copier cannot be used after the usable capacity of the copier reaches zero. (2) A prepaid card that holds a numerical value of the usable amount of the copier according to the initial payment amount and subsequent usage, and the usable amount of the copier stored on the prepaid card is read and used as the copier is used. A card reading/writing device that sequentially decreases the numerical value of the available amount and writes a new available amount onto the prepaid card; a display device that displays the available amount stored on the prepaid card;
and a control device for stopping the use of the copying machine when the usable amount reaches zero in conjunction with the card reading/writing device.