JPH058608Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a copying machine management device that manages the number of copies that can be made by a copying machine.

[Conventional technology]

In order to prevent unlimited use of copying machines in companies, etc., the number of copies that can be made is set in advance for each department, and after making the set number of copies,
A copying machine management device that prohibits copying is known. For example, as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 55-82658, a user-specific copy number charge setting device is used to set the number of copies per user on the copying machine side.
The charges are set in advance, and the number of copies/charges for that user up to that point stored in the user-specific copy number charge storage device and the number of copies and charges for each user set in the user-specific copy number charge storage device are displayed. 2. Description of the Related Art A copying machine usage management device is known that controls the operation of a copying machine by comparing the number of copies/fee. There is also known a device that uses a number card on which the number of copies that can be made is recorded in advance. When this number card is inserted into the management device, the management device reads the recorded number of copies that can be made from the number card, and can operate the copying machine on the condition that the number of copies is greater than or equal to a predetermined number (for example, 1). state. Then, the number of copies that can be read out for each copying operation is subtracted and updated, and
It displays the number of copies that can be made. Then, when the number of copies card is removed from the management device, the updated number of copies that can be made is rewritten in the number of copies card.

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

However, in the device described in Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 55-82658, the number of copies that can be made is set on the copying machine, so if the number of copies reaches the set number, it is possible to copy again. In order to do so, the administrator must go to the location where the copying machine is installed and perform operations such as reducing or clearing the cumulative number of copies, or further increasing the set number of copies. Therefore, if there are a large number of copying machines, it will take a lot of time and effort for the administrator. Furthermore, if the number of copies or the set number of copies is easily changed, there is a risk of unauthorized use.

On the other hand, in the method using a number card, instead of setting the number of copies that can be made in the storage device of the copying machine in advance, when the number card is removed from the management device, the number of copies that can be made on the number card is rewritten to the updated number of copies that can be made. . For this reason, the management device requires write devices such as a magnetic card erase head, a write head, and a write circuit, making the management device complicated and expensive.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a copying machine management device that solves the problems of the conventional management device described above.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the copying machine management device of the present invention includes a setting card on which department number and copy setting number information and identification information corresponding to these information are recorded, and department number information and a corresponding identification information. A department card with identification information recorded,
a memory for storing the number of copies that can be made corresponding to the department number; a reading means into which the setting card or the department card is inserted and reading the information recorded on the card; and the information on the card read by the reading means. card identification means for identifying a legitimate card based on the above-described setting card and determining whether the card is the above-mentioned setting card or the above-mentioned department card; , means for adding the set number of copies recorded in the setting card to the number of available copies corresponding to the department number recorded on the setting card in the memory and setting the result as a new number of available copies; means for destroying the contents of the setting card after reading the setting card, the means being provided along the insertion path of the card in the means; and when the read card is the department card, the department card in the memory; a copying machine control means that compares the number of copies that can be made corresponding to the department number recorded in the section number with a predetermined value, and enables the copying machine to perform a copying operation if the number is equal to or greater than the predetermined value; The machine is provided with a copyable number updating means for subtracting the copyable number corresponding to the department number recorded in the department card from the memory and updating the resultant copyable number as a new copyable number for each copying operation of the machine.

[Effect]

In the present invention, the number of copies that can be made in the department that can be copied by the copying machine is set in the memory using a setting card, and after setting, the contents of the setting card are destroyed and cannot be reused. Thereafter, copies are made using the department card, and the number of copies that can be made for the corresponding department is subtracted for each copy, and when the remaining number of copies falls below a predetermined value, the copying operation is prohibited.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a block circuit diagram of a copying machine management device according to the present invention. There are two types of magnetic cards 1: a setting card that records information such as a department number and the number of copies that can be made, and a department card that records information such as a department number. Information such as the department number and the number of copies that can be made are recorded in advance on each of these magnetic cards 1 by another device. The magnetic head 2 is for reading information recorded on the magnetic card 1, and the read signal is sent to the reading control section 3. The reading control section 3 converts the signal read by the magnetic head 2 into a predetermined digital signal. The microcomputer 4 includes a ROM (read only memory) in which programs are stored and a working RAM (random access memory) (both not shown). The microcomputer 4 follows the program in the built-in ROM.
Information read from the magnetic card 1 is inputted by the reading control unit 3, and it is determined whether the magnetic card 1 is a regular one, and whether the card is a setting card or a department card is determined. When it is determined that the magnetic card 1 is a setting card, the microcomputer 4 reads out the number of copies that can be made corresponding to the department number of the setting card from the rewritable memory 6 that stores the department number, the number of copies that can be made, etc. The number of copies set in the setting card 1 is added to the number of copies that can be made, the number of copies that can be made in the memory 6 is rewritten as the new number of copies that can be made, and the new number of copies that can be made is displayed on the display section 5 that displays the department number, number of copies that can be made, etc. . The destruction control unit 9 also controls the destruction means 8.
is driven to destroy the recorded contents of the magnetic card 1. This destruction is carried out electromagnetically, for example by a well-known means of passing current through the coil of a magnetic head such as an erasing head and destroying the records on the magnetic card 1 by the generated magnetism.

On the other hand, if it is determined that the magnetic card 1 is a department card, the microcomputer 4 reads out the number of copies that can be made corresponding to the department number of the department card from the memory 6 and displays it on the display section 5.
If the number of copies that can be made is greater than a predetermined value, the copying machine body 7 is enabled for copying operation, and the number of copies that can be made is subtracted according to the number of copies information supplied from the copying machine body 7 for each copying operation. Further, if the number of copies that can be made does not exceed a predetermined value, the microcomputer 4 disables the copying operation of the copying machine main body 7.

Note that a part of the built-in RAM of the microcomputer 4 may be used as the rewritable memory 6.

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the management device according to the present invention. A display section 5 for displaying the department number, the number of copies that can be made, etc. is provided on the slanted part in the approximate center of the management device 10, and a magnetic field is provided at the front end. A card insertion slot 11 for inserting the card 1 is provided.

FIG. 3 shows a magnetic card (setting card) 1a for setting the number of copies that can be made, on which a prescribed department number and a prescribed number of copies that can be made are recorded, which is used in this embodiment. A header section 13, a department number section 14, a copyable number section 15, and a check section 16 are formed from the insertion side.

The header section 13 and check section 16 are identification information, which can be used to determine whether the recorded contents of the magnetic card 1 are legitimate.

First, an outline of the operation of this embodiment will be explained.

When the setting card 1a on which the specified department number and the specified number of copies are recorded is moved in the direction shown by arrow A in FIGS. 1 and 2 and inserted into the card insertion slot 11 of the management device 10, the setting card The contents of 1a are read by the reading head 2, the read department number and the number of copies that can be made are stored in the memory 6, and the department number and the number of copies that can be made are displayed on the display section 5.

Next, when the setting card 1a is moved in the direction shown by arrow B and the setting card 1a is pulled out from the management device 10, the contents of the setting card 1a are destroyed by the destroying means 8, and the setting card 1a becomes unusable. Therefore, the setting card 1a can be used only once. Note that it is not necessary to destroy all the contents of the setting card 1a at this time; it is sufficient to be able to determine later whether or not the card is a legitimate card. good.

When making copies, a department number card (not shown) on which the department number is recorded, which is provided separately from the setting card 1a, is inserted into the management device 10 to enable the copier main body 7 and determine the number of copies to be made. The number of copyable sheets stored in the memory 6 is subtracted according to the number of copies, and when the number of copyable sheets (remaining number) becomes zero, the copying operation is prohibited.

If there are any remaining cards, create a new setting card 1a.
When the number of copies is inserted, the number of copies that can be made is added to the number of remaining copies, and the total value is displayed on the display section 5.

Next, the details of the operation of the management device of this embodiment will be explained based on the program flowchart shown in FIG.

First, clear the memory 6 in step 101,
In step 102, it is determined whether or not a card has been inserted.If the card has not been inserted, step 102 is performed.
Return to step 10 when the card is inserted.
Step 3 reads the contents of the card. Next, in step 104, it is determined whether the card is genuine or not. If the card is not genuine, the process returns to step 102, and if it is genuine, the process advances to step 105.
In step 105, it is determined whether the inserted card is the setting card 1a or not. If it is the setting card 1a, in step 106, the number of copies read from the setting card 1a is set to the number of copies allowed for the corresponding department number in the memory 6. Add the number of sheets and proceed to step 10.
In step 7, the number of copies that can be copied in the memory 6 is rewritten to the added number, and in step 108, it is determined whether or not the memory 6 has been correctly rewritten. If it has not been rewritten correctly, the process returns to step 102, and if it has been rewritten correctly, In step 109, the number of copies that can be made is displayed on the display section 5. Next step 11
0, it is determined whether the card has been drawn out, and if the card has not been drawn out, the process returns to step 110;
When the card is drawn out, the destruction control unit 9 drives the destruction means 8 in step 111 to destroy the contents of the card 1a, and then the process returns to step 102.

If it is determined in step 105 that the card is not the setting card 1a, the process proceeds to step 112 to determine whether or not it is a department number card, and if there is no department number card, the process returns to step 102. If it is a department number card, proceed to step 113;
It is determined whether the number of copies that can be made for the corresponding department number in the memory 6 is zero or not, and if it is determined to be zero,
After the operation of the copying machine is prohibited in step 114, the process returns to step 102. If the number of copies that can be made is not zero, operation of the copying machine main body 7 is permitted in step 115, and if a copying operation has been performed, the number of copies is counted in step 116, and in step 117, the corresponding department number in the memory 6 is copied. The number of copies that can be made is subtracted from the number of copies that can be made, the number of copies that can be made in the memory 6 is rewritten to the number after the subtraction in step 118, and the number of copies that can be made is displayed on the display section 5 in step 119.

Next, in step 120, it is determined whether or not the card has been withdrawn. If the card has not been withdrawn, the process returns to step 113; if the card has been withdrawn, the operation of the copying machine is prohibited in step 114, and then the process returns to step 102. .

Therefore, according to this embodiment, by inserting the setting card 1a, the department number and the number of copies that can be made with the copying machine are set in steps 102 to 111, and the setting card after setting is set with the contents. is destroyed and cannot be reused. After that, by inserting the department number card, if there are any remaining cards, proceed to steps 112-11.
3. Copies are made in steps 115 to 120, and each copy is subtracted from the predetermined number of copies that can be made. When the remaining number reaches zero, step 114 is performed.
Copying operations can be prohibited with .

5, 6 and 7 show other embodiments of the destruction means, FIG. 5 shows an example in which the card is heated by the thermal head 17 to thermally destroy the data on the card, and FIG. 6 shows an example in which the data on the card is thermally destroyed. The figure shows magnet 18 and plunger 19.
FIG. 7 shows an example of magnetically destroying the data on the card by approaching or pressing the card with the needle-like protrusion 20.
Examples are shown in which the data on the card is mechanically destroyed by crimping the card with a plunger 19 or the like to damage the card.

In addition, in the present invention, one department number may be set for one department, or the same department number may be set for a plurality of departments. In addition, the department number includes not only numbers but also codes. In this embodiment, the operation of the copying machine body 7 is permitted when the number of copies that can be made is not zero, and the operation of the copying machine body 7 is prohibited when the number of copies that can be made becomes zero. It is clear that zero may be replaced with other numbers, such as

[Effect of idea]

As described above, in this invention, the number of copies that can be made is set using a setting card, the contents of the setting card are destroyed after setting, and the number of copies for each department is managed using a department card when using a copier. ing. As a result, the user of the copying machine can set the number of copies that can be made, and the administrator does not have to worry about each copying machine. Furthermore, since the number of copies that can be made is determined by the setting card, the administrator only has to manage the setting card, which greatly reduces the effort required for management. Furthermore, since there is no need for a write circuit for rewriting the contents of the card, the configuration of the management device becomes simple and inexpensive.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a block circuit diagram of a management device according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the management device, Fig. 3 is a plan view showing a magnetic card, and Fig. 4 is a program stored in the ROM of a microcomputer. 5, 6 and 7 are schematic sectional views showing other embodiments of the destruction means. 1...magnetic card, 2...reading head, 3...
Reading control unit, 4... microcomputer,
5...Display unit, 6...Memory, 7...Copying machine main body, 8...Destruction means, 9...Destruction control unit, 10...
...Management device, 11...Card insertion slot, 12...Magnetic stripe section, 13...Header section, 14...
Department number section, 15...Number of copies that can be made, 16
...Check section, 17...Thermal head, 18
...Magnet, 19...Plunger, 20...Acicular projection.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Utility Model Registration Request] A setting card that records the department number, copy setting number information, and identification information that corresponds to these information, and a department card that records the department number information and the identification information that corresponds to this information. a memory for storing the number of copies that can be made in correspondence with the department number; a reading means into which the setting card or the department card is inserted and reading information recorded on the card; and a card read by the reading means. identify the card as a legitimate card based on the above information,
card discrimination means for determining whether the card is the setting card or the department card; and if the read card is the setting card, the card is recorded in the setting card in the memory. means for setting a new number of allowed copies by adding the set number of copies recorded on the setting card to the number of allowed copies corresponding to the department number; means for destroying the contents of the setting card after reading the setting card; and, if the read card is the department card, the number of copies that can be made in the memory corresponding to the department number recorded in the department card; a copying machine control means that compares the value with a predetermined value and enables the copying machine to perform a copying operation if the value is equal to or greater than the predetermined value; A copying machine management device comprising: a copyable number updating unit that subtracts the copyable number corresponding to a department number recorded on a card and updates the result as a new copyable number.