JPH0259891A - Card issuing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automatically input the specific amount of money by scanning a credit card by determining the amount of money to be encoded according to the counted value of a counter which counts the number of times of effectiveness decision making by as discriminating device as to a card and controlling a card writer. CONSTITUTION:When the credit card is inserted into an insertion slot, its card information is read by a card reader 2 and the discriminating device 15 decides whether or not the card is effective according to the card information. The counter 3 counts up when the discriminating device 15 determines that the card is effective to obtain the number of times of effectiveness decision making and when the same card is inserted into the insertion slot, the counter counts up every time the discriminating device 15 decides that the card is effective. When sliding is completed, a controller 4 determines the sold amount of money according to the counted value of the counter and controls a card writer 1 to write this amount on a magnetic card. Consequently, a customer inputs the desired encoded amount of money to the card issuing machine by the number of times of the insertion of the credit card into the card reader.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (A) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a card issuing machine that issues a prepaid guard loaded with a sales amount established with a customer.

(b) As a conventional card issuing machine, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-16649
There is a technique disclosed in Publication No. 0, in which, when a customer inserts a predetermined amount of money and a sale is completed, a magnetic card is issued on which amount data corresponding to the sales amount is written.

(C) Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, as cards become more widespread, there is a need for a card issuing machine that allows the purchase of such prepaid cards with a credit card. In other words, from the point of view of credit card system administrators, there is a problem in that it becomes complicated to operate if credit processing is done for every small purchase, and it also has infinite value for the credit card owner. This is because there are concerns that if an accident occurs when a credit card is used for small purchases, it could be a problem.

However, in order to issue a bripaid card using a credit card, the customer must input the desired entitlement amount, which requires an encoded amount input device such as a numeric keypad, which poses the problem of increasing the size of the device. be. Moreover, since a credit card itself has infinite value, there is also the disadvantage that even if a large amount of money is entered by mistake, that amount will be encoded directly onto the magnetic card and issued.

Therefore, the present invention provides a card issuing machine that can automatically input a predetermined amount of money by scanning a credit card.

(d) Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the card issuing machine according to the present invention includes a credit card slot and a card reader that reads card information of the credit card inserted into the slot. , a recognition device that determines the validity of the credit card by determining card information read by the card reader; a counter that counts the number of times the card is determined to be valid by the recognition device; and an encoder that performs encoding according to the counted value of the counter. and a control device that determines the amount and controls the card writer to write the encoded amount onto the magnetic card.

(*) Effect When a credit card is inserted into the slot, the card information is read by the card reader, and the discriminator determines the validity of the card based on this card information. When the discriminating device determines that the card is valid, the counter counts up and counts the number of times the card is determined to be valid. If the same card is repeatedly inserted into the slot, the counter counts up each time the card is determined to be valid by the discriminator. When the sale is completed, the control device determines the sales amount based on the count value of this counter, and controls the card writer to write this amount onto the magnetic card.

(f) Embodiment FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a card issuing Ja (10) according to the present invention, in which (11> is a card storage in which a magnetic card (12) on which amount data is written is stored; ) is a card writer equipped with a magnetic head (IA) (<13) is a card transport unit equipped with a card collection J [(14).

This card transport section (13) transports the card (12) taken out from the card storage (11) to the card writer (1), and also transports the defective card sent from the card writer (1) to the card collection storage. (14) Accept.

(2) is a card reader that reads the card information of the credit card (5) inserted into the slot (2B), and in this example, by manually running the card along the slot (2B), the magnetic head (2A > is scanned. (7
) is an amount display that displays the encoded amount, which is the sales amount established with the customer, and (8) is an issuance switch operated by the customer. When this switch (8) is operated, the magnetic card (12 ) is encoded with a monetary value and issued as a prepaid card.

(6) is the control unit of this card issuing machine (10),
As shown in FIG. 2, the 0 discriminating device (15), which includes a control device (4), a discriminating device (15), a counter (3), and a communication control device (16), is connected to the card reader (2). The validity of this card is determined based on the card information of the read card (5). The counter (3) counts the number of times the card is judged to be valid by the discriminating device (15), and is cleared by a reset signal output from the control device (4) every time the issuance of the card is completed. Such a counter (3) would count the number of times the customer caused the card reader (2) to scan the credit card. The communication control device (16) is a host computer (
After the prepaid card is issued, credit information such as the personal recognition hood, issuance time, encoded amount, etc. is sent to the host computer (9).

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control unit (6), and the operation of the card issuing machine (10) will be explained using this flowchart.

When the insertion of the credit card (5) into the card reader (2) is detected in step S1, the next step Sll
The determination device (15) determines the validity of this credit card (5) based on the card information read by the card reader (2). When the card is detected as a valid card in step S12, in the next step S13, the counter (3) adds 1 to the signal output from the discriminating device (15), and the process proceeds to step S14. In step 314, the control device (4) calculates the encoded amount and displays this amount on the amount display (7). The encoded amount is determined by the number of times the credit card (5) is scanned, but a predetermined amount is set in advance for each scan, and the amount is determined by the number of scans counted in the counter (3) and this set amount. Calculate the encoded amount by multiplying by 0. For example, if the set amount is 1,000 yen and the customer inserts the credit card (5) into the card reader (2) twice and then operates the issue switch (8). , a sale of 2,000 yen has been completed, and this amount becomes the encoded amount.However, if the card is an invalid card, the process goes to step S9, and the counter (3) outputs an output from the control device (4). When the customer scans the same credit card with the card reader (2) again, this process is repeated, and the counter (3) counts the number of times the card has been scanned. The amount of enrichment corresponding to the amount is calculated and displayed on the amount display (7).

If the credit card (5) is not inserted into the card reader (2), the process goes to step S2, where the controller (4) uses a 0 issue switch to determine whether the issue switch (8) has been operated by the customer. (8> is ON, the process goes to step S3, and the control device (4) determines whether the content of the counter (3) is "0". If the value is other than 0'', that is, if the credit card (5) has been scanned at least once by the card reader (2), the process proceeds to the next step S4.

In step S4, the control device (4) controls the card storage (1
1), the magnetic card (12) is taken out to the card transport section (13), and a control signal is given to the card transport section (13) to transfer the magnetic card to the card writer (1).
Transport to. In the next step S5, the control device (4
) outputs the encoded amount information to the card writer (1), drives the magnetic head (IA), and writes the calculated encoded amount to the magnetic card (12) in step 314.In step S6, the control device (4) performs a verification check to determine whether the en-food amount instructed to be written is accurately recorded on the magnetic card (12).This verification check is performed on the magnetic card (12).
The amount data recorded on the card is read by the magnetic head (IA) and compared with the amount to be encoded. If the writing is normal, the process proceeds to the next step S7, and the control device (4) reads the amount data recorded on the card writer (1). ), and the magnetic card (12) on which the sales amount established with the customer is encoded is sent to the card issuing port (IB).
). However, if the amount to be enriched is not written correctly, the process goes to step S10.
The control device (4) gives control signals to the card writer (1) and the card transport section (13) to introduce the defective magnetic card into the card storage (14), and returns to the process of step S4. Therefore, a new magnetic card (12) is taken out from the card storage (11) to the card writer (1),
The operation to write the encoded amount is performed again.

After the card is issued in step S7, when the process proceeds to step S8, the communication control device (16) transfers the credit information such as the personal recognition code, issuance time, and encoded amount sent from the control device (4) to the host computer ( 9) Send to. In the next step S9, due to the end of sales of the prepaid card, the control device (4) gives a reset signal to the counter (3) to clear the number of scans in preparation for the next issuing operation.

(G) Effects of the Invention According to the present invention, a customer can input a desired entitlement amount into a card issuing machine by inserting a credit card into a card reader. Therefore, not only is the device simplified because no special input device is required, but it is also easy to operate, which has the effect of reducing input errors in encoded amounts.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the card issuing machine, FIG. 2 is a control block diagram, and FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control unit. (1)...Card writer, (2)...Card reader, (3)...Counter, (4)...Control device,
(15)...Discrimination device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a card issuing machine that records monetary data corresponding to the sales amount established with a customer as an encoded monetary amount on a magnetic card using a card writer and issues the card, there is a slot for a credit card and a card inserted into the slot. A card reader that reads card information of a credit card, a determination device that determines the validity of the credit card by determining the card information read by the card reader, and a counter that counts the number of times the card is determined to be valid by the determination device. , a control device that determines the encoded amount according to the count value of the counter and controls the card writer to write the encoded amount on the magnetic card.