JPH08101951A - Prepaid card vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a prepaid card vending machine capable of performing marking or the like provided with a peculiar shape for making it possible to visually identify a shop and the prepaid card vending machine or the like on the surface of a prepaid card or the like at the time of selling the prepaid card W common to respective shops. CONSTITUTION: A marker part 2 provided with a marking part 22a and a base 24 for holding the prepaid card 3 between them and performing the marking such as printing, embossment or piercing, is provided in the carrier path of this prepaid card vending machine. The marker part 2 performs the marking provided with the peculiar shape for making it possible to visually identify the shop and the prepaid card vending machine on the surface of the prepaid card or the like at needed at the time of selling the prepaid card 3.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a prepaid card vending machine which sells a common prepaid card made in accordance with a certain standard in each industry with a marking for visually identifying the seller. Regarding

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, so-called prepaid cards have come to be used as a prepaid method of charges for a large number of products and services. Regarding this, not only telephones and railroads, but also small shops, etc., have established a certain standard within the same industry (as an example, the pachinko industry), and prepaid cards based on this standard (hereinafter common There are many cases in which the convenience of users is improved by using a card. These common cards can be commonly used in the same industry by writing identification information indicating a store or a vending machine in the magnetic layer of the common card when the common card is sold. Further, as a result, in a store having a plurality of common card vending machines and a vending machine for selling products with a common card in one store, common use within the store becomes possible.

Further, among the industries that use common cards as described above, the above-mentioned prepaid cards (used cards) that have run out of balance are collected for the purpose of preventing illegal use of prepaid cards and improving services. There are many examples of providing after-sales services to customers. To give a specific example, in the pachinko parlor industry, each pachinko parlor stores carry out lottery, etc., in which customers can participate in exchange for a fixed amount of used cards collected by users.

In this case, the lottery itself is held by each pachinko parlor, whereas the prepaid card to be collected is a common card in the pachinko industry. Therefore, at the time of sale of the target prepaid card, it is necessary to write identification information for identifying the store on the magnetic layer of the card, and at the same time, to make a visually identifiable marking on the surface of the card. .

[0005]

Conventionally, the above-mentioned marking and the like have been manually performed by an employee of a pachinko parlor using oil-based ink or the like. However, since this is a manual work, it takes a lot of time and labor, and it is extremely difficult to make a uniform marking. This invention has been made based on the background as described above, and at the time of selling a prepaid card common to each store,
An object of the present invention is to provide a prepaid card vending machine capable of providing a stamp or the like having a unique shape for visually identifying a store, a prepaid card vending machine, or the like on the surface of the prepaid card or the like. To do.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in the invention according to claim 1, a prepaid card commonly used in a plurality of stores and a plurality of card type vending machines is provided. In a prepaid card vending machine to be sold, the prepaid card is equipped with a marking means having a unique shape for identifying the store or each prepaid card vending machine, and at the time of selling the prepaid card, if necessary. The engraving means engraves the surface or the like of the prepaid card. In the invention according to claim 2, a marking part for marking the prepaid card, a pedestal facing the marking part, an arm having the marking part attached to one end, and the other of the arms. When a prepaid card passes through a gap between the marking portion and the pedestal, it has a plunger attached to an end, a solenoid for pulling the plunger, and a spring for urging the plunger in a direction opposite to the solenoid. In addition, when the solenoid pulls the plunger, the prepaid card is sandwiched between the engraved portion and the pedestal, and the surface or the like of the prepaid card is engraved.

[0007]

According to the present invention, there is a marking portion and a pedestal, and a prepaid card is sandwiched between them, and a marking means for marking the prepaid card is provided in the conveying path of the prepaid card vending machine. When the prepaid card is sold, a stamp having a unique shape is provided on the surface of the prepaid card or the like so that the store or the prepaid card vending machine can be visually identified.

[0008]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. A. Configuration FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of the card transport mechanism 1 of the prepaid card vending machine according to the present embodiment as seen from a side surface thereof. The card transport mechanism 1 stores prepaid cards 3, 3, ... Based on a certain standard in a card storage section 4, and carries out a designated number of prepaid cards 3 in accordance with an instruction from a control device (not shown). To do. Further, the card transport mechanism 1 has therein a marker section 2 (described later) for applying a predetermined marking or the like to a predetermined position of the prepaid card 3. The schematic configuration of the card transport mechanism 1 is as follows.

In FIG. 1, the prepaid cards 3, 3, ... Stored in the card storage unit 4 are dispensed from the card dispensing unit 5. The path from the card feeding section 5 to the card discharging section 6 is a conveyance path 7-1 sandwiched between the belts 7a and 7c, a conveyance path 7-2 sandwiched between the belts 7a and 7b, The transport path 8 is sandwiched between the belts 8a and 8b, the transport path 9 is sandwiched between the belts 8b and 9a, and the transport path 10 is sandwiched between the belts 9a and 9b and the belt 10a. . Each of these belts is driven by a stepping motor 11.

A card writer 15 is attached to one end of the transfer path 9 (the upper part of the card transfer mechanism 1 in FIG. 1). When the prepaid card 3 is inserted from the card insertion portion 16, the card writer 15 reads the data written in the magnetic layer of the prepaid card 3 or writes new data. A switching lever 13 is attached between the transport path 9 and the transport path 10. The switching lever 13 is located on the surface side of the belt 9a on which the prepaid card 3 is conveyed, and is driven by a motor or the like (not shown). When the prepaid card 3 conveyed is defective (determined by the card writer 15 described above), the prepaid card 3 is guided to the card box 12. Further, the above-described marker unit 2 and the card sensor 14 for detecting the end of the prepaid card 3 are attached in the section of the transport path 10. In the present embodiment, the card sensor 14 detects the end of the prepaid card 3 by an optical method.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing the configuration of each part of the marker unit 2. Reference numeral 21 denotes an arm rotatably supported by the card transport mechanism 1 by a support point D. Arm 21
One end of a marker shaft 22 is rotatably attached to the left end of the marker shaft 22. The marker shaft 22 is slidably supported by a guide 23 fixed to the card transport mechanism 1. The other end of the marker shaft 22 is a marking portion 22a for marking the prepaid card 3, and the prepaid card 3 is sandwiched between it and the pedestal 24.
Engrave the name of the store. In this embodiment, a punching process (punch) is performed.

On the other hand, one end of a spring 25 is fixed to a part of the right end of the arm 21. The other end of the spring 25 is fixed to the card transport mechanism 1 by a support point C. Further, the tip of a plunger 26 of a solenoid 27 is rotatably attached to the right end of the arm 21. The solenoid 27 is fixed to the card transport mechanism 1.

B. The operation controller causes the card payout unit 5 to pay out one prepaid card 3 and the stepping motor 1
Rotate the shaft of No. 1 (direction A in the figure) to make each belt 7
a, 7b, 7c, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b and 10a
Drive. As a result, 1 prepaid card 3
The sheets are drawn into the conveyance path 7 and the conveyance is started. First, the prepaid card 3 is inserted into the card writer 15 from the card insertion portion 16 via the transport paths 7, 8 and 9.

The card writer 15 is a prepaid card 3
Data such as a prepaid amount (card purchase amount), a card sale date, or a store identification code is written (data encoded) in the magnetic layer of the. At the same time, it is confirmed whether or not the magnetic layer of the prepaid card 3 has a defect.
This defect confirmation is performed, for example, by a method such as once writing meaningless data (random data) on the magnetic layer of the prepaid card 3. When a defect or the like is confirmed in the magnetic layer of the prepaid card 3, the prepaid card 3 is taken into the card box 12 by the procedure described later.

The prepaid card 3 for which the data encoding and the presence / absence of a defect in the magnetic layer have been completed returns from the card writer 15 to the transport path 9 again via the card insertion portion 16. At this point, the control device rotates the shaft of the stepping motor 11 in the direction opposite to the conventional direction (direction B in the figure). In this way, the prepaid card 3 is transferred to the transport path 9
Is sent to the conveyance path 10 along the belt 9a. The switching lever 13 located between them does not normally contact the belt 9a. However, when it is confirmed by the card writer 15 that the magnetic layer of the prepaid card 3 is defective, the control device rotates the switching lever 13 to bring one end of the switching lever 13 into contact with the belt 9a. Energize. As a result, the prepaid card 3 is guided to the card box 12 instead of the transport path 10. In this way, the prepaid card 3 having a defective magnetic layer,
It is stored in the card box 12. In this case, the control device further reverses the shaft of the stepping motor 11 (direction A in the figure), and feeds another prepaid card 3 stored in the card storage portion 4 from the card feeding portion 5, Repeat the above operation.

The prepaid card 3 in which no defect is found in the magnetic layer is sent to the transport path 10. Here, the control device immediately stops the rotation of the shaft of the stepping motor 11 when receiving a signal from the card sensor 14 indicating that the front end of the prepaid card 3 has been confirmed. By the way, the marking part 22a of the marker part 2 is set so as to be located immediately above the prepaid card 3 when the tip part of the prepaid card 3 reaches the card sensor 14. Therefore, at this point, the prepaid card 3 can be stamped or the like.

In the marker portion 2 shown in FIG. 2, the right end portion of the arm 21 is urged in the direction of arrow E by the spring 25 in the normal state. That is, there is a gap between the marking portion 22a and the pedestal 24, and the prepaid card 3 can pass through this gap. As for the control device, the prepaid card 3 has an engraved portion 22.
When a predetermined position immediately below a is reached, the stepping motor 11
After stopping the rotation of the shaft, the electric current is passed through the solenoid 27. At this time, the magnetic force generated by the solenoid 27 pulls the plunger 26 inward of the solenoid 27 against the urging force of the spring 25. That is, the right end of the arm 21 rotates in the direction opposite to the arrow E.

The arm 21 rotatably supported by the support point D on the card transport mechanism 1 rotates its right end in the direction opposite to the arrow E, so that its left end rotates in the direction of the pedestal 24. The marker shaft 22 moves in the direction of the pedestal 24. That is, the prepaid card 3 is
The stamped portion 22a and the pedestal 24 are pressed into contact with each other so as to be stamped. In this embodiment, the prepaid card 3 is punched here.

When the marking or the like on the prepaid card 3 is completed, the control device cuts off the current to the solenoid 27, restores the state of the arm 21, and enables the prepaid card 3 to be conveyed. After this, the stepping motor 11 is again
The shaft is rotated (direction B in the drawing), and the prepaid card 3 is ejected from the transport path 10 via the card ejecting section 6.

In this way, a prepaid card vending machine capable of visually marking the common prepaid card 3 based on a certain standard and identifying the seller of the prepaid card can be made by the store. Can be realized. In this embodiment, the perforating process is applied as a marking or the like applied to the common card, but an embossing (embossing) process, a printing process using an oil-based ink, or a marking that can be visually identified on the surface or the like of the card is used. Any engraving process is applicable to the present invention.

Further, in the present embodiment, the end portion of the prepaid card 3 is detected by using the card sensor 14 by an engineering method. You may use the card sensor which detects the edge part of the prepaid card 3 when an electric contact is pushed and an electric current flows. Furthermore, the arm 2 of the marker unit 2
Although one end is rotated by being pulled by the magnetic force generated by the solenoid 27, it may be driven by a motor or the like to rotate.

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the prepaid card common to each store is sold, it has a peculiar shape for visually identifying the store or the prepaid card vending machine. It is possible to realize a prepaid card vending machine in which a marking or the like can be applied to the surface or the like of the prepaid card as needed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of a card transport mechanism 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention as seen from a side surface.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a configuration of a marker unit 2 in the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 card transport mechanism 2 marker part 3 prepaid card 22a engraved part 24 pedestal

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A prepaid card vending machine that sells a prepaid card commonly used in a plurality of stores and a plurality of card type vending machines, wherein the prepaid card identifies the shop and each prepaid card vending machine. A prepaid card vending machine, comprising a marking means for marking a peculiar shape, wherein the marking means, as necessary, marks the surface or the like of the prepaid card when the prepaid card is sold. 2. A marking part for marking a prepaid card, a pedestal facing the marking part, an arm having the marking part attached to one end, and a plunger attached to the other end of the arm. A solenoid for pulling in the plunger and a spring for biasing the plunger in a direction opposite to the solenoid are provided, and the solenoid pulls in the plunger when the prepaid card passes through the gap between the marking portion and the pedestal. The prepaid card vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the prepaid card is sandwiched between the marking portion and the pedestal, and the marking is provided on a surface of the prepaid card or the like.