JPH07141754A - Card processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a card processing device capable of visually certifying the generation of errors of magnetic data writing from a used card. CONSTITUTION:This device is provided with a magnetic data processing means 6 for reading and writing the magnetic data of a received magnetic card C and a printing processing means 7 for printing at least a part of the magnetic data in the magnetic card C. It is further provided with an error display means 9 for actuating the printing processing means 7 and printing a symbol for indicating an error in the magnetic card when the writing error of the magnetic data processing means 6 is generated in this card processing device.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to, for example, a vending machine,
The present invention relates to a card processing device for reading and writing data on a magnetic card (hereinafter referred to as “card”) such as a prepaid card or an ID card used in an automatic ticket gate, a register or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A card processing device of this type for reading and writing a card (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-180691) is a magnetic data processing means for reading and writing magnetic data indicating the balance and the like given to a card. And a thermal head as a print processing means for printing the remaining amount on the card at the same time on the conveying path.
In a vending machine equipped with such a card processing device, the card processing device reads the magnetic data (remaining amount) of the inserted card with the magnetic head, and the amount of money according to the product sold by the vending machine. Is written as the magnetic data, which is a new balance obtained by subtracting from the balance indicated by the magnetic data. At that time, the new balance is printed on the card by the thermal head so that the purchaser of the product can visually confirm the balance.

[0003]

By the way, a write error or the like may occur in the magnetic head due to the influence of dust or the like attached to the magnetic head. In such cases, it may be possible to put the card in the card processing device in a suspended state and stop the device, or return the card in an unusable state. Will be annoying to the person. On the other hand, in the latter case, even if the card is returned, the owner of the card will not be able to visually confirm the magnetic data, so that there is a problem that it will not be noticed until the next use of the card. It was Also, for cards that have become unusable,
The card management company writes back the printed balance as magnetic data and returns it to the card holder, but if a long time has passed since the error occurred, the card will be used by the card processing device at that time. It was difficult to identify whether it was disabled or the user had cheated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a card processing device capable of visually confirming the occurrence of a magnetic data writing error with a used card. The purpose is to do.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object,
According to a first aspect of the present invention, in a card processing device having magnetic data processing means for reading and writing the magnetic data of the received magnetic card and printing processing means for printing at least a part of the magnetic data on the magnetic card, the magnetic data When an error occurs in the writing process of the processing means, the print processing means is activated to provide an error display means for printing a symbol indicating the error on the magnetic card.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a card processing having magnetic data processing means for reading and writing the magnetic data of the received magnetic card, and print processing means for printing at least a part of the magnetic data on the magnetic card. The apparatus is provided with a power failure detection means and an error display means for operating the print processing means based on the power failure detection by the power failure detection means after the power is restored after the power failure and printing a symbol indicating an error on the magnetic card. And

Further, the invention according to claim 3 is a magnetic data processing means for reading and writing magnetic data while the received magnetic card is being carried by the carrying means, and a printing for printing at least a part of the magnetic data on the magnetic card. In a card processing device having a processing means, a conveyance abnormality detection means for detecting a conveyance abnormality of the conveyance means, and a print processing means is operated based on the conveyance abnormality detection by the conveyance abnormality detection means to print a symbol indicating an error on a magnetic card. And an error display means for displaying the error.

[0008]

According to the first aspect of the invention, when an error occurs in the writing process for writing the magnetic data into the received magnetic card by the magnetic data processing means, the error display means activates the print processing means to cause the magnetic processing. Have the card print a symbol to indicate the error. Therefore, the card owner can visually confirm that the error has occurred by looking at the returned card, and can immediately know that the card has become unusable. on the other hand,
Since the card management company can also check the card processing device in a short period of time, it can be easily confirmed whether or not an error has occurred in the card processing device.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, after the power supply is restored after a power failure, the error display means activates the print processing means based on the power failure detection detected by the power failure detection means to cause the magnetic card to operate. Print a symbol indicating an error.
Therefore, both the card owner and the card management company can visually confirm that the error due to the power failure has occurred.

Further, according to the third aspect of the invention, the error display means activates the print processing means based on the conveyance abnormality of the conveyance means detected by the conveyance abnormality detection means, and a symbol indicating an error on the magnetic card. Is printed. Therefore, both the card owner and the card management company can visually confirm that an error has occurred due to a conveyance error.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A case in which a card processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied to a card reader / writer installed in a vending machine will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. This card reader / writer is for reading and writing magnetic data of a card, and is capable of selling a product by using a card instead of a coin or a bill.

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view schematically showing the structure of a card reader / writer (hereinafter referred to as “this device”) and a system diagram showing a vending machine 11 connected to this device 1. . In the following description, the front side when the card is conveyed toward the inside of the apparatus 1 is referred to as “upstream side” and the back side is referred to as “downstream side” for convenience. As shown in FIG. 1, the present device 1 has a card insertion port 3 opened on the front surface of a case 2, a conveyance path 4 extending from the card insertion port 3 to the inside of the case 2, and a conveyance path 4 for an inserted card C.
A transport mechanism 5 for transporting along the transport path, a read / write mechanism (magnetic data processing means) 6 facing the transport path 4, and a print mechanism (printing for printing on the card C located downstream of the read / write mechanism 6). Processing means 7), a holding mechanism 8 located on the downstream side of the printing mechanism 7 for temporarily holding the received card C, and a control section 9 for controlling the above-mentioned mechanisms and performing error processing described later. .

When the card C is inserted into the card insertion slot 3, a sensor (not shown) detects it and opens a gate (not shown) facing the upstream end of the transport path 4 to open the card. While accepting C, the operation of the transport mechanism 5 is started. The inserted card C is sent to the downstream side along the transport path 4 by the transport mechanism 5, the magnetic data is read by the read / write mechanism 6, and then stored in the storage mechanism 8. Here, the product selling operation of the vending machine 11 is performed. When the product sales operation is completed, the card C
While being sent back on the transport path 4, the printing mechanism 7 prints on the card C and writes the magnetic data of the card C associated with the sale of the product, and then the card is returned from the card insertion slot 3. Although not described in detail, since various magnetic data are written and the written magnetic data is confirmed in this series of read / write operations, the card C actually has the read / write mechanism 6 as the center. It is transported back and forth several times.

The transport mechanism 5 comprises a transport motor, a reduction gear train connected to the transport motor (both not shown), and a plurality of transport rollers 21, 21 facing each part of the transport path 4.

The read / write mechanism 6 writes or writes the magnetic data of the card C, and the magnetic head 3
1 and a pressing roller 32 that presses the card C against the magnetic head 31 without forming a gap. The printing mechanism 7 is for printing the remaining money on the back surface of the card C, and includes the thermal head 41 and the platen roller 4
It is composed of 2 and.

The holding mechanism 8 is provided at the most downstream position of the conveying path 4 and comprises a holder 51 for holding the card C and a conveying roller 52 for storing and ejecting the card C held in the holder 51. It is configured.

The control unit 9 has a CPU (central
Processing unit), ROM and RAM. The CPU controls reading / writing processing of magnetic data of the card C, printing processing and error processing. Further, the ROM stores the operation program of the CPU, and the RAM stores the magnetic data read from the card C and the data on the commodity selling price output from the vending machine.

Next, magnetic data processing, printing processing and error processing of the apparatus 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

Insert the card C into the card insertion slot 3 (S
61), and the magnetic data of the card C is read to the downstream side by the carrying mechanism 5 and read by the magnetic head 31 (S62). The card number C and the balance number data are recorded in advance on the card C, and the CPU of the control unit 9
Returns the balance given to card C from the balance data to internal R
At the same time it is stored in the AM, the balance data of the card C is erased to make it an invalid card. And the CPU
The transport mechanism 5 is driven to hold the card C in the holder 51.

Next, when a product is selected by the vending machine 11, it is judged whether the selling price of the product is within the remaining amount range of the card C, and if it is within the remaining amount range, the product is sold. Perform (S63). At this time, the CPU generates new balance data by subtracting the selling price of the sold product from the balance data stored in the internal RAM, and the internal RAM
To memorize.

Next, the CPU reversely rotates the carry roller 52 and carries the card C held in the holder 51 to the upstream side. When the card C faces the magnetic head 31, the CPU controls to write the balance data stored in the internal RAM to the card C (S64). Then C
The PU drives the transport mechanism 5 to transport the card C backward to the downstream side, and when the card C again faces the magnetic head 31, reads the magnetic data of the card C and holds the card C in the holder 51. It is determined whether or not it matches the balance data stored in the internal RAM, that is, whether or not a writing error has occurred (S65).

When the CPU determines that the writing error has not occurred, the CPU operates the conveying roller 52 to activate the card C.
When the card C faces the thermal head 41, the thermal head 41 is controlled to print the remaining amount (remaining amount) (S66). After printing, the CPU drives the transport mechanism 5 to eject the card C from the card insertion slot 3.

On the other hand, if a writing error occurs in "S65", the CPU prints the balance and also prints the writing error mark (S68), and then ejects the card C from the card insertion slot 3 (S67). ).

The error print display will be described with reference to the error print format example shown in FIG. It should be noted that FIGS. 9A and 9B both show the case where the magnetic data of the card C is written with the remaining amount of 3000 yen, and the product of 500 yen is sold, and an error occurs at that time. Represents the error display of.

In the same figure (a), the sales date on the card C,
An example is shown in which the “¥” mark and the balance are printed by the thermal head 41. In this case, the sales date and balance are displayed, and “N” is displayed before the balance display instead of the “¥” mark. The error is displayed by printing.

Further, FIG. 2B shows an example in which the “¥” mark and the balance display are printed on the card C by the thermal head 41. In this case as well, the balance is displayed and “¥” is displayed. An error is displayed by printing "N" before the balance display instead of the "" mark.

As described above, according to this embodiment, when a writing error occurs, the card holder can be notified of the error by printing the "N" mark on the card C. Therefore, the card management company can write the correct magnetic data. Further, the card management company can surely determine whether the card processing device 1 is out of order or whether the card processing device 1 is fraudulent.

It should be noted that, in the present embodiment, regarding the writing process, it was explained that the writing itself was performed, but the writing was not performed correctly, but the writing itself cannot be performed by the magnetic head 31 in this processing. It is also included.

The apparatus 1 also prints an error on the magnetic card when the power is restored and the initial reset is performed after the power is cut off due to a power failure or the like. Although the data to be recorded on the card will be lost when the initial reset is performed, an error is printed on the card to indicate that there is a power failure. The power failure is detected by, for example, a comparator (power failure detecting means) provided outside the CPU. Specifically, a reference power source is connected to one of the comparison input terminals of the comparator, and a power source obtained by dividing the power source used in the present device 1 into a predetermined voltage is connected to the other comparison input terminal. When the voltage becomes lower than the voltage of the reference power source, the power failure detection signal is output to the CPU.

When the card is inserted, the CPU sets a card processing flag and then stores this flag in, for example, a non-volatile memory backed up by a battery. Predetermined processing is continuously performed. If the power is cut off during this process, the power failure detection signal is input to the CPU, and the CPU sets the power failure flag based on the power failure detection signal, and the power failure flag is also stored in the non-volatile memory. To be done.
When the power is subsequently restored, the CPU displays an error message on the card based on the existence of both flags, for example, as shown in FIG.
The thermal head 41 should print the "N" error display shown in (a) or the "B" error display instead.
To control.

Further, the apparatus 1 prints an error on the magnetic card even when the card C has a conveyance error. When a conveyance abnormality occurs, an error may occur in reading or writing magnetic data of the magnetic card. Therefore, when an abnormality is detected in the conveyance of the magnetic card, an error display on the card, for example, "" shown in FIG. An "N" error display or a "C" error display instead of this is printed to indicate a conveyance abnormality. Abnormality of the conveyance is detected by, for example, a sensor (which constitutes a conveyance abnormality detection unit together with the CPU) appropriately arranged in the conveyance path of the card to determine whether or not there is passage and whether the time interval of passage is normal.

Further, the error display is not limited to the embodiment, and may be "NG", "E", or the like, and by printing another symbol which is not printed at the normal time, the error is displayed. It can be applied to anything that visually displays what has happened.

[0033]

As described above, according to the present invention, when an error occurs in the writing process of the magnetic data processing means, the error display means activates the print processing means to print a symbol indicating the error on the magnetic card. I'm trying to
The fact that a magnetic data writing error has occurred can be displayed on the used magnetic card so that the card holder or the like can visually recognize it.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system diagram according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of magnetic data processing, printing processing, and error processing in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a print format of error display according to an embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Card Processing Device 6 Read / Write Mechanism 9 Control Unit 31 Magnetic Head 41 Thermal Head C Magnetic Card

Front page continuation (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Office reference number FI technical display location G11B 19/02 521 7525-5D 20/18 550 D 9074-5D

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A card processing device comprising magnetic data processing means for reading and writing magnetic data of a received magnetic card, and print processing means for printing at least a part of the magnetic data on the magnetic card, wherein the magnetic data A card processing apparatus comprising an error display means for operating the print processing means and printing a symbol indicating the error on the magnetic card when an error occurs in the writing processing of the processing means. 2. A card processing device comprising magnetic data processing means for reading and writing magnetic data of a received magnetic card, and print processing means for printing at least a part of the magnetic data on the magnetic card. And an error display means for operating the print processing means based on the power failure detection by the power failure detection means after the power is restored after the power failure and printing a symbol indicating an error on the magnetic card. Processing equipment. 3. A card having magnetic data processing means for reading and writing magnetic data while the received magnetic card is carried by the carrying means, and print processing means for printing at least a part of the magnetic data on the magnetic card. In the processing device, a conveyance abnormality detection unit that detects a conveyance abnormality of the conveyance unit, and an error that causes the print processing unit to operate based on the conveyance abnormality detection by the conveyance abnormality detection unit to print a symbol indicating an error on the magnetic card A card processing device comprising a display means.