JPH07104981B2 - Device usage status management method - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a method of managing the usage status of equipment used with a magnetic card.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, there has been known a method of printing various information and designs on a non-recording surface of a magnetic card to increase the added value of the magnetic card.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, with the above method, it is impossible to manage the usage status of two different devices with one magnetic card. That is, the conventional magnetic card cannot serve as a telephone card and a commuter pass, for example. Therefore, when prepaid cards, cash withdrawal cards, and the like are widespread as today, many cards are held and management is difficult. After all, it would be more convenient to have cash.

Therefore, the present invention provides a device usage management method capable of surely managing the usage of two types of devices with one prepaid card, and being able to use the same card for various models. The purpose is to do.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The gist of the present invention is to provide a magnetic stripe on the surface of a prepaid card in which prepaid information regarding the usage status of the first device is stored, as illustrated in FIG. At the same time, a bar code indicating prepaid information about the usage status of the second device is provided on the back surface of the prepaid card, and the usage status management method of the device is used to manage the usage status of two different types of devices by the prepaid card. As the bar code, a bar code indicating the time limit of use of the second device and a bar code indicating the used time of the second device are provided separately (P1), and the prepaid card is the second card. When it is attached to the device, the bar code showing the time limit and the bar code showing the used time are read, and the used time If it is less than the time limit (P2-YES), enable the second device to operate (P3), and print the barcode indicating the used time according to the usage status of the second device. There is a device usage status management method characterized by fixing (P4).

[Operation] In the above method of the present invention, when the prepaid card is attached to the first device, the prepaid information stored in the magnetic stripe provided on the card surface causes
The usage status of the first device can be managed.

On the other hand, when a prepaid card is attached to the second device,
Scan and compare the bar code showing the usage time limit with the bar code showing the usage time, and if the usage time is less than the above usage time limit, enable the second device to operate and Reprint the used time bar code according to the usage status of the device. As a result, the used time of the prepaid card is updated and recorded on the card, so that it is possible to manage the use status of the second device by using the bar code which is optical information.

Therefore, in the present invention, it is possible to manage the usage status of two different devices with one card. Moreover, in the present invention, since the magnetic information and the bar code are used together, compared to the case where the magnetic information is provided on both the front and back sides of one prepaid card to manage the two types of devices, the two types of different devices can be managed. You can definitely manage the usage situation.

That is, unlike the present invention, when two types of devices are managed by providing magnetic information on both sides of the prepaid card, for example, when the front and back of the card are mistakenly attached to the first device. The first device may mistakenly read the magnetic information of the second device, resulting in malfunction of the device. Further, when the magnetic information of the first device and the magnetic information of the second device are stored at the time of manufacturing the card, if both are magnetic information, it is difficult to distinguish them, and the information on the front and back of the card may be wrong. There is a great risk of recording it.

On the other hand, in the present invention, even if the card is mistakenly attached to the first device managed by the magnetic information, the barcode cannot be read by the first device side. Therefore, there is no fear that wrong data will be read into the first device. Further, since the magnetic information and the barcode information can be easily distinguished from each other, it is less likely that the front and back are erroneously stored during manufacturing. Therefore, it is possible to surely manage the usage statuses of two different types of equipment.

Further, in the present invention, in managing the second device, a bar code indicating the used time is used, and the bar code indicating the used time is rewritten by printing according to the use status, so that rewriting is generally not easy. It becomes possible to use a prepaid card based on the barcode.

As a method of using a barcode on a prepaid card, instead of reprinting the barcode as in the present invention, the used time of a predetermined unit such as 1 hour or 2 hours is displayed on the surface of the card. Pre-print a plurality of the bar codes shown, and each time the card is used for a predetermined time, destroy these bar codes with a punch etc.,
A method of changing the information indicating the used time may be considered.

However, with such a method, it is necessary to print a predetermined barcode on the card beforehand, so when the unit of the used time differs for each device (for example, in the pay TV, the used time is 30 minutes). Or it is an hour unit), it is difficult to use the same card for different models, which is not preferable.

In that respect, in the present invention, a bar code indicating the used time is used in the management of the second device, and the bar code indicating the used time is rewritten by printing according to the use status, so that the device used The same card can be used for multiple models by changing the barcode printing on the side.

[Embodiment] An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a pay television management device will be described with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 2 (A), the magnetic card C has a bar code BC1 indicating the code of the store where the pay TV is installed and a bar code BC2 indicating the time limit of use printed on the surface Ca. As shown in FIG. 3B, the magnetic recording medium MG is provided on the back surface C2. The magnetic recording medium MG records, for example, the usage limit of public telephones and can be used as a so-called telephone card.

Pay TV management device (hereinafter abbreviated as management device) 1
As shown in FIG. 3, a magnetic card detector 10 for detecting that the magnetic card C is inserted into an insertion opening (not shown), a magnetic card C loading / unloading device 12,
A well-known bar code reader (hereinafter referred to as BCR) 14, a printer 16 that prints a bar code indicating the usage time on the surface Ca of the magnetic card C, a display device 18 that displays the available time of the television 50, and a magnetic card. C take-out switch 20 and alarm device 22 that emits a warning sound when the card C is illegally used
And a power supply device 24 for supplying power to the television 50 and a control device 26 for controlling each device.

The control device 26 includes a well-known CPU 30, a ROM 32, and a RAM 34, a microcomputer 38 formed by interconnecting the bus 36, an input / output circuit 40, and a well-known timer 42 connected to the input / output circuit 40. It consists of and. The ROM 32 stores various programs for controlling various devices, programs for managing use time, registered store code data of the store, a data table for setting initial values, and the like. In addition, the timer 42 transmits the time-up to the CPU 30 every time one hour is measured.

Further, the management device 1 is provided with a magnetic card detector 10, a magnetic card C loading / unloading device 12, and a BCR1 via an input / output circuit 40.
4, the printer 16, the display device 18, the take-out switch 20, the alarm device 22, and the power supply device 24 are connected.

Next, the operation of the management device 1 will be described.

First, the user inserts the magnetic card C into the insertion slot. When the magnetic card C is inserted, the magnetic card detector 10 detects the magnetic card C. Then, the take-in / out device 12 operates to feed the magnetic card C to the reading position of the BCR 14. BCR
14 is each barcode BC1, BC printed on the surface Ca of the magnetic card
The store code, the usage time limit, and the usage time are read from 2, BC3, and the read data is transmitted to the control device 26.

When the data is transmitted from the BCR 14, the control device 26 receives the fourth
The usage time management process shown in the flowchart of the drawing is executed.

First, the control device 26 determines whether or not the store code data matches the registered store code data stored in the ROM 32 (S10), and if it does not match the registered store code (S10-N
O), an alarm command is output to the alarm device 22 (S120), and the process ends.

On the other hand, if the store code data matches the registered store code (S10-YES), the process proceeds to the judgment of whether the usage time is less than the usage limit time (S20). When a negative determination is made in S20, a display command indicating the completion of the usage time is output to the display device 18 (S100), a magnetic card discharge command is output to the magnetic card loading / unloading device 12 (S110), and the process is terminated. If the affirmative judgment is made in S20, the usage time is incremented by 1 hour and then (S3
0), the remaining usable time is calculated (S40, usable time = usable limit time−used time), and a display command for the usable time is output to the display device 18 (S50). Then printer 1
Print command is output to 6 (S60).

With this, as shown in FIG. 2 (A), the magnetic card surface Ca
A bar code BC3 indicating the end of one hour is printed on. If the barcode has already been printed, it will be printed at a position adjacent to the barcode. Then, the ON command is output to the power supply device 24 (S70). Then, the power is supplied to the television 50 so that the user can watch the television 50.

Next, the control device 26 constantly monitors whether or not the take-out switch 20 is pressed (S80) and waits for one hour (S80).
90) When one hour has passed (S90-YES), return to S20. If the take-out switch 20 is pressed before the lapse of one hour (S90-NO → S80-YES), a discharge command is output to the take-in / discharge device 12 (S110), and the process ends.

As described above in detail, in the magnetic card management method of this embodiment, the bar codes BC2 and BC3 indicating the usage time limit and the usage time recorded on the magnetic card C are optically read to determine the usage time limit. If it is less than the time, if the judgment is negative, the usage time is displayed and the magnetic card C is ejected. If the judgment is affirmative, the television 50 is supplied with power and the bar code BC3 indicating the usage time is magnetically displayed. Since the code C is printed, it is possible to manage the usage status of the pay TV.

Therefore, one magnetic card C can be used as a card for pay TV use or as a so-called telephone card, and for example, the usage status of a pay TV and a telephone used in a hotel can be easily managed.

Further, since the bar code BC3 indicating the usage time is printed on the magnetic card C, the usage time data is not lost and the user can check the usage time, which is very convenient.

The barcode BC3 is printed sequentially, but a method of printing the barcode BC3 in a different order may be adopted. In this case, there is an effect of preventing unauthorized use of the magnetic card C.

Further, in the present embodiment, the barcode BC3 is printed to record the usage time, but other codes or pictograms may be printed in addition to this.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to surely manage the usage status of two devices with one prepaid card, and the card can be used for various models. There is an effect that it can be used and the amount of cards possessed can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a basic configuration diagram illustrating a device usage status management method of the present invention, FIG. 2 (A) is an explanatory view showing the front surface of a magnetic card, and FIG. 2 (B) is a back surface of the magnetic card. Illustration,
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a pay television management device, and FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing a usage time management process executed in the control device. 1 …… Pay TV management device 14 …… Bar code reader, 16 …… Printer C …… Magnetic card BC2 …… Bar code indicating the maximum usage time BC3 …… Bar code indicating the usage time

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A magnetic stripe storing prepaid information on the usage status of a first device is provided on the front surface of a prepaid card, and a bar showing prepaid information on the usage status of a second device is provided on the back surface of the prepaid card. A method of managing the usage status of a device, wherein a code is provided and the usage status of two different types of equipment is managed by the prepaid card, wherein the bar code is a bar code indicating a usage time limit of the second device, and A bar code indicating the used time of the second device is provided separately, and when the prepaid card is mounted on the second device, a bar code indicating the use time limit and a bar code indicating the used time. Read and compare, if the used time is less than the use time limit, enable the second device to operate, Depending on the usage of the second device, status management using the device, wherein the re-print the bar code indicating the used time.