JPH09180032A - Card processor and card processing system using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To greatly shorten the issuing time of card. SOLUTION: A ticket issuing device 1 and a controller 3 are connected together through a communication line L. The ticket issuing device 1 is equipped with a card issue opening, a bill insertion slot, operation switch, etc., in the front and with a card stocker, a card processing unit, etc., inside. When a card is issued from the said card issue opening, a next card is paid out from the card stocker and ticket issue information is written. This card is so set as to stay on the conveyance path in the card processing unit until next ticket issuing operation, and when the ticket issuing operation is done, the ticket issue information written on the card is transmitted to the controller 3. The controller 3 registers this ticket issue information in a memory and sends an answer sentence indicating the completion of the process back to the ticket issuing device 1, whose control part then redrives a card conveying mechanism to carry the waiting card out to the card issue opening.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a card processing device for issuing a card such as a prepaid card in which predetermined ticket issuing information is written, and a system using this card processing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional card processing device of this type,
Some include a card accommodation unit that accommodates a large number of cards in which ticket issuing information such as the value of money is written in advance. This device is one that pays out a card one by one from a card storage unit and carries it out to a card issuing port by a billing operation such as inserting a bill or pushing an operation switch.

On the other hand, there is also a card processing apparatus in which a card in which the ticket issuing information is not written is accommodated in the card accommodating portion, and an information recording mechanism such as a magnetic head is provided in the middle of the conveying path from the card accommodating portion to the card issuing port. Proposed.

[0004]

In the case of the first card processing apparatus, since a large number of effective cards are accommodated inside the apparatus, the cards are taken out by prying the door, etc.
There is a risk of unauthorized use. Further, in the second device, when the ticket issuing operation is performed, the ticket issuing information is written and issued, so that the problem of illegal use can be solved. However, in this device, as compared with the first card processing device, the ticket issuing process is delayed by the time for writing the ticket issuing information, so that there is a problem of lacking customer service.

The present invention has been made by paying attention to the above problems. Immediately after issuing a card, the ticket issuing information is written to the next card and kept waiting on the conveying path, and the waiting is performed at the stage when the ticket issuing operation is performed. By issuing the above card, the purpose is to significantly reduce the card issuing time.

Further, according to the present invention, the above card processing device and the control device are connected to each other via a communication line, and when the ticket issuing operation is performed, the ticket issuing information written in the waiting card is transmitted to the controller. The second purpose is to prevent unauthorized use of the card.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a card processing device for issuing a card in which ticketing information is written in an information recording section, and an operation section for performing a ticketing operation of the card. A card accommodating section for accommodating a large number of cards, a conveying path communicating from the card accommodating section to the card issuing port, and one card in the card accommodating section are sent to the conveying path, and then the card is conveyed. A card carrying means for carrying the card along the path to the card issuing slot, an information recording means for writing ticket issuing information in an information recording part of the card carried on the carrying path, and a detecting means for detecting the carry-out of the card to the card issuing slot. In response to the detection of the card being carried out to the card issuing port by the detecting means, the card conveying means and the information recording means are driven, and the next card is sent to the conveying path and the information thereof is sent. After writing the ticket information to the recording unit,
Issuing preparation means for stopping the card transportation means and waiting this card on the transportation path, and when the operation section issues a ticket, the card transportation means is re-driven to carry out the waiting card to the card issuing slot. And a card issuing means for doing so.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a card including a card processing device for issuing a card in which the ticket issuing information is written in the information recording section, and a control device connected to the card processing device via a communication line. In the processing system, the control device includes receiving means for receiving ticketing information from the card processing device through the communication line, and registration means for storing the ticketing information received by the receiving means as registration information.
When the registration of the ticket issuing information is completed, there is a returning means for returning the information indicating the completion of the processing to the card processing device which is the sender of the ticket issuing information. On the other hand, the card processing device includes an operation unit, a card storage unit, a transport path,
In addition to having a card carrying means, an information recording means, a detection means, and an issuance preparation means, when a ticketing operation is performed by the operation unit, the ticketing information written in the card is transmitted to the control device via a communication line, and this is transmitted. On the other hand, when the control device returns the information indicating the completion of the processing, the card conveying means is re-driven to carry out the waiting card to the card issuing slot.

[0009]

According to the first aspect of the invention, when a card is issued from the card issuing slot, the next card is sent out from the card accommodation section and the ticket issuing information is written. When the writing of this information is completed, the card conveying means is stopped and the card stands by on the conveying path. When a ticket issuing operation is performed by the operation unit in this state, the card conveying means operates again and the waiting card is carried out to the card issuing port. As a result, the time from ticketing operation to card issuance is greatly reduced.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the card issuing operation is performed by the operation unit while the card in which the ticket issuing information is written by the same processing as described above is waiting on the conveying path, the card processing device causes the control device to operate. , The ticket issuing information written in the waiting card is transmitted. After registering the received ticketing information as registration data, the control device returns information indicating the end of processing to the card processing device. In the card processing device, when the information is returned, the card conveying means is driven to issue the card.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention will be described using a prepaid card processing system in a playground. In this prepaid card processing system, a prepaid card issuing device 1, a game medium lending device 2 for accepting insertion of a prepaid card issued from the ticket issuing device 1 and a control device 3 composed of a personal computer are connected via a communication line L. It was done.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a prepaid card processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. This prepaid card processing system is configured by connecting a plurality of ticket issuing devices 1 and a plurality of play medium lending devices 2 installed in a specific playground to a control device 3 via a communication line L.

The ticket issuing apparatus 1 accepts a specific bill (for example, a thousand-yen bill) and issues a prepaid card according to the value of the amount of money. When issuing the card, the amount of money written on the issued card. Information such as a value, a ticket issuing date, and a card number (hereinafter collectively referred to as “ticket issuing information”) is transmitted to the control device 3 via the communication line L.

The control device 3 is composed of a personal computer, and when the ticket issuing information is received from the ticket issuing device 1,
After this is stored in the memory as registration information of a new card distributed in the playground, a response statement indicating the completion of processing (details will be described later) is returned to the ticket issuing device 1 of the information transmission source.

The game medium lending device 2 receives the cards issued by the ticket issuing device 1 and lends a number of game media corresponding to the value of the money to a game machine (not shown). When the card is inserted, the ticket issuing information is read and transmitted to the control device 3. The control device 3 detects the read ticket issuing information (hereinafter referred to as “read information”).
Is referred to as the registered information stored therein, and the collation result is returned to the play medium lending device 2 which is the information transmission source.

In response to the return of the collation result, the control unit of the game medium lending device 2 determines the suitability of the inserted card. When the result of the determination that the card is proper is obtained, The value of the amount of money of the card is rewritten to a value obtained by subtracting a predetermined amount of money, and at the same time, the lending process of the game medium for the amount of the subtracted amount is executed.

In this prepaid card processing system, in order to accurately perform the above-described rewriting process of the monetary value, prior to the rewriting process, information relating to the monetary value after the rewriting (hereinafter referred to as "rewriting information" from the game medium lending device 2). ") Is transmitted to the control device 3. After the control device 3 rewrites the registration information using the rewriting information, and then returns a response sentence indicating the end of the process to the game medium lending device 1 of the information transmission source, the game medium lending device 1 The rewriting of the money value of the held card and the lending process of the game medium are executed, and the processed card is returned to the card slot 4. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 5 indicates a monitor connected to the control device 3.

FIG. 2 shows the appearance of the ticket issuing device 1. The front of the machine has a card display section 6 for displaying a card to be issued, an operation switch 7 for instructing the issuing of a card, A bill slot 8, a card issuing slot 9 and the like are provided.

Inside the card issuing port 9, as shown in FIG. 3, a card processing unit 10 and a card stocker 11 accommodating a large number of cards are continuously arranged.
The card processing unit 10 includes a transport path 1 having front and rear openings.
2, the carrier path 12 is aligned so as to continue to the positions of the lowermost cards of the card issuing port 9 and the card stocker 11. A card feeding mechanism 14 for feeding the lowermost card to the transport path 12 is provided below the card stocker 11, and the card processing unit 10 provides the card dispense port with the card delivered to the transport path 12. There are provided a card transport mechanism 13 for carrying out the card 9, a magnetic head 15 for writing ticketing information in an information recording portion of the card, photoelectric sensors PH1 to PH3, and the like.

The card transport mechanism 13 and the card feeding mechanism 14 are provided with two pairs of front and rear feed rollers 16 and 19, respectively.
It is composed of transmission belts 17, 20, motors 18, 21 and the like. As the motor 18 of the card transport mechanism 13, a motor capable of forward / reverse driving is used.

The first photoelectric sensor PH1 is provided near the opening 22 on the card stocker 11 side and detects the loading of a card from the card stocker 11. The second photoelectric sensor PH2 is at the rear position of the magnetic head 15,
The photoelectric sensor PH1 is arranged at a position separated by an interval corresponding to the length of the information storage section of the card. The third photoelectric sensor PH3 is for detecting the completion of the card issuing process and the presence of a card waiting, and is provided near the opening 23 on the card issuing port 9 side.

The ticket issuing apparatus 1 is set so that when the card is carried out to the card issuing slot 9, the next card is delivered from the card stocker 11 and the ticket issuing information is written in the information recording section. The transport mechanism 13 is controlled so as to stand by at the position in front of the photoelectric sensor PH2 until the next ticketing operation is performed on the card in which the ticketing information is written. In this standby state, when a bill is inserted into the bill insertion slot 8 and the operation switch 7 is pressed, the control unit described later creates transmission information including the ticket issuing information written in the standby card. To the control device 3.

Further, when a response sentence from the control device 3 to this transmission is returned, the control unit re-drives the card transport mechanism 16 to carry out the waiting card to the card issuing slot 9.

FIG. 4 shows the electrical construction of the ticket issuing apparatus 1. The control unit 28 including the CPU 25, the ROM 26, and the RAM 27 is connected to the operation switch 7, the photoelectric sensors PH1 to PH3, and the card via the bus 24. Transport mechanism 13,
In addition to the card feeding mechanism 14 and the magnetic head 15, a bill discriminator 29, a bill conveying mechanism 30, a transmitting / receiving unit 31, and the like are connected.

The bill discriminator 29 is provided inside the bill insertion slot 8 and is used for bill detection and bill discrimination. The banknote transport mechanism 30 is for transporting the inserted banknotes to the internal banknote collecting unit. The transmitting / receiving unit 31 is also used for exchanging information with the control device 3.

FIG. 5 shows an electrical configuration of the control device 3, which includes a control unit 35 including a CPU 32, a ROM 33, and a RAM 34, an input unit 37, and a display circuit 3 via a bus 36.
8, the transmitter / receiver 39, etc. are connected.

The ROM 33 stores programs relating to communication and information processing with each ticket issuing device 1 and the game medium lending device 2, and the RAM 34 stores various data such as ticket issuing information transmitted from each ticket issuing device 1. It Input unit 37
Is composed of a keyboard and the like, and is used to appropriately input data necessary for processing. The display circuit 38 is for displaying the data processing result on the monitor 5.

The transmitter / receiver 39 is connected to the communication line L,
It is used for exchanging information with the ticket issuing device 1 and the game media lending device 2.

FIG. 6 shows a configuration example of information transmitted from the ticket issuing device 1 to the control device 3. It should be noted that each rectangle in the drawing means one byte of data for expressing the character code 1, and here, for convenience of explanation, the contents of each data are shown in the form of a concrete character in the rectangle. Is expressed in.

This information has a data structure of 20 bytes, and the first 1 byte of this information expresses the character "*" indicating that this data is transmission information to the control device 3. The next 3-byte data indicates the identification number MN given to the ticket issuing apparatus 1 as the transmission source. The first 1 byte is the 100's digit, the next 1 byte is the 10's digit, and the last 1 byte is the last 1 byte. The ones digit is expressed in bytes.

The following 13 bytes of data indicate the ticket issuing information PD recorded on the issued card. Of these, the first 2 bytes are data YR indicating the last two digits of the year, the next 2 bytes are data MT indicating the month, and the next 2 bytes are
The data DT representing the day is represented by bytes, and the data YR, MT, and DT indicate the issue date of the card.

The next 5 bytes of data is the issue number NB given to the card, and the value 2 VL given to the card is expressed by the following 2 bytes. Note that the first byte of the data VL representing this monetary value is in units of 1000
The byte byte represents each of the hundred units.

The next 2-byte data is a checksum CM1 obtained by performing a predetermined operation on each byte up to this point, and a carriage return code indicating the end of the transmission information is added at the end. To be done.

Upon receiving the above transmission information, the CPU 32 of the control device 3 takes out the identification number MN and the ticket issuing information PD from the information, and uses this as the new registration information in the RAM.
It stores in 34.

7 (1) and 7 (2) show that after the registration process,
The structural example of the response sentence returned from the control apparatus 3 to the ticket issuing apparatus 1 is shown. This response information has a data structure of 8 bytes, and a character "!" Indicating that this series of data is response information from the control device 3 is returned by the first 1 byte by the next 3 bytes. After the identification number YN of the ticket issuing device 1 and the response information RI are represented by the next 1 byte, a 2-byte sentence checksum CM2 and a carriage return code are added.
The above identification number YN is determined by the identification number YN included in the transmission information from the ticket issuing apparatus 1.

FIG. 7 (1) shows a response sentence transmitted when the ticket issuing information is normally registered. In this case, the code "1" is selected as the response information RI. In addition, FIG. 7 (2)
Is a response sentence returned when an error occurs in the registration process due to noise on the transmission information from the ticket issuing device 1 and the code “2” is selected as the response information RI.

Although not shown here, the game medium lending device 2 also transmits information of a predetermined format to the control device 3 as the read information and the write information. The control device 3 sends back a response sentence in the same format as that in FIGS. 7 (1) and 7 (2) in response to these pieces of transmission information.

FIG. 8 shows a control procedure of the ticket issuing apparatus 1. When the amusement park is opened and the prepaid card processing system is activated, the CPU 25 first executes step 1 (“ST” in the figure).
1 ”), the ON / OFF of the photoelectric sensor PH3 is checked to determine whether or not the card is waiting on the transport path 12.

If the photoelectric sensor PH3 is off, the CPU
25 determines that there is no card waiting, drives the card feeding mechanism 14 to take out one card from the card stocker 11, and sends it to the transport path 12 (step 2).

Next, the CPU 25 causes the photoelectric sensor PH1,
After confirming that the sensors are turned on in the order of PH2, when the photoelectric sensor PH1 is turned off, the writing of ticket issuing information by the magnetic head 15 is started (step 3). The writing process ends when the photoelectric sensor PH2 is turned off.

On the other hand, when the card is closed while waiting on the conveyance path 12 on the previous day, the photoelectric sensor PH3 is turned on at the same time when the system is activated. As a result, the determination in step 1 becomes "YES" and the process proceeds to step 4, and the CPU 2
5 reversely rotates the motor 18 of the card transport mechanism 13 to retract the card on the transport path 12.

When the card retracts and the photoelectric sensor PH1 is turned on, the CPU 25 switches the rotation of the motor 18 to the forward direction and drives the magnetic head 15 to erase the information written on the previous day on the card and newly write it. Write card information (step 5).

When the photoelectric sensor PH3 is turned on after the processing of step 3 or step 5 is completed, the CPU
25, the motor 18 of the card transport mechanism 13 is stopped to stand by for a ticket issuing operation.

In this state, when a bill is inserted from the bill insertion slot 8 and then the operation switch 7 is pushed, both the judgments at steps 7 and 8 become "YES", and the CPU 25
Creates the transmission information shown in FIG. 6 and transmits it to the control device 3 (step 9).

When it is confirmed in the next step 10 that the response text for this transmission information is received from the control device 3, CP
U25 further checks the response information RI in the response sentence. If the response information RI is "1", step 11 becomes "YES", and the CPU 25 determines that the ticket issuing information is correctly registered in the control device 3, and restarts the motor 18 of the card transport mechanism 13. To drive. As a result, the card on standby is carried out to the card issuing slot 9, and the motor is stopped when the photoelectric sensor PH3 is turned off (step 12). After that, the CPU 25 returns to step 2 to take out the next card from the card stocker 11,
Thereafter, the same processing as above is executed for this card.

When the operation switch 7 is not operated within a predetermined time after the bill is inserted, the control device 3
When the response information RI returned from is “2”,
The determination in step 8 or step 11 becomes "NO", the process proceeds to step 14, and the inserted bill is returned to the bill insertion slot 8.

FIG. 9 shows the control operation of the controller 3. When the system is activated, the CPU 32, after initializing each part of the device, waits for transmission of ticket issuing information from the ticket issuing device 1 or transmission of read information or rewriting information from the game medium lending device 2 in steps 1 to 3.

When the ticket issuing information from the ticket issuing apparatus 1 is received,
When step 1 becomes “YES”, the process proceeds to step 4, and the CPU 32 registers the received ticket issuing information in the RAM 34. When this registration process is properly performed, step 5 becomes “YES” and the process proceeds to step 6,
The U32 selects the code "1" as the response information RI, creates a response sentence, and returns this to the ticket issuing device of the information transmission source. On the other hand, when the registration process is not properly performed because the received information includes noise, step 5 becomes “NO” and the process proceeds to step 7, and the CPU 3
2 selects the code "2" as the response information RI, creates a response sentence, and returns this to the ticket issuing device of the information transmission source.

On the other hand, when the read information of the accepted card is transmitted from the game medium lending device 2, step 2 becomes "YES", and the CPU 32 collates the received information with the registration information in the RAM 34, It is determined whether or not the received contents are proper (steps 8 and 9). CPU3
If the determination in step 9 is “YES”, 2 returns a response sentence including the response information RI of code “1” to the game medium lending device 2 of the information transmission source (step 6), but the received information is When it is different from the registered information (when step 9 is "NO"), a response sentence including the response information RI of the code "2" is created and returned to the play medium lending device 2 of the information transmission source (step). 7).

When the rewriting information for the accepted card is transmitted from the game medium lending device 2 which has returned the response sentence including the code "1" as the response information RI, step 3
Becomes "YES", and the CPU 32 performs the rewriting process of the corresponding registration information in the RAM 34 based on the received information (step 10). When this rewriting process is properly performed, step 11 becomes "YES" and the process proceeds to step 6, but the received information has noise,
If the received content does not match the previously transmitted read information, step 11 becomes "NO" and the process proceeds to step 7.

According to the above configuration, even if a card on standby is pulled out into the card processing unit 10 of the ticket issuing device 1 and inserted into the game medium lending device 2, the controller 3 issues ticket issuing information for the card. Is not registered,
In response to the transmission of the read information from the game medium lending device 2, the control device 3 returns a response sentence including the response information RI of the code “2”. The game media lending device 2 that received this response sentence
Returns the accepted card and notifies the unauthorized use of the card by notifying means such as an alarm lamp and a buzzer (not shown).

In the above embodiments, the system for managing prepaid cards in the playground was explained, but the present invention is not limited to this, and various prepaid card processing systems such as telephone cards, tickets, and entrances. It can also be applied to processing systems such as ticket vending machines.

[0053]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when a card is issued from the card issuing slot, the next card is sent out from the card accommodation section to write the ticket issuing information, and then the card is made to stand by on the conveying path. , When the ticket issuing operation is performed by the operation unit, the card conveying means is re-driven to carry out the waiting card to the card issuing slot, so that the time from issuing the ticket to issuing the card is significantly increased. It can be shortened and customer service can be improved.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in the card processing system in which the card processing device and the control device are connected to each other through the communication line, the ticket issuing operation is performed while the card is on standby on the transport path of the card processing device. At this time, the ticket issuing information written in the waiting card is transmitted to the control device, and the card is issued in response to the information indicating the end of processing being returned from the control device. Even if the card is pulled out, there is no possibility of being illegally used, and a card processing system with high security can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration example of a prepaid card processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing an appearance of a ticket issuing device.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing the configurations of a card processing unit and a card stocker.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the ticket issuing device.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of a control device.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a data structure of transmission information from the ticket issuing device to the control device.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a data structure of a response sentence from the control device.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of the ticket issuing device.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of the control device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ticket issuing device 3 control device 9 card issuing port 12 transport path 13 card transport mechanism 14 card feeding mechanism 15 magnetic head 25, 32 CPU 34 RAM 31, 39 transceiver unit

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A card processing device for issuing a card in which ticketing information is written in an information recording section, the operating section for performing a ticketing operation of the card, and a card accommodation section for accommodating a large number of cards. , A transport path communicating from the card storage section to the card issuing slot, and one card in the card storage section is sent to the transport path, and then the card is transported to the card issuing slot along the transport path. Card conveying means, information recording means for writing ticketing information in the information recording part of the card conveyed on the conveying path, detecting means for detecting the carry-out of the card to the card issuing slot, and the detecting means In response to the detection of card ejection, the card conveying means and the information recording means are driven, the next card is sent out to the conveying path, and the ticketing information is written in the information recording section. , An issuing preparation means for stopping the card carrying means and making the card stand by on the carrying path; and when a ticket issuing operation is performed by the operation section, the card carrying means is re-driven to move the waiting card to the card issuing port. A card processing device comprising a card issuing means for carrying out. 2. A card processing system comprising: a card processing device for issuing a card in which ticketing information is written in an information recording section; and a control device connected to the card processing device via a communication line. The control device includes a receiving unit that receives ticketing information from the card processing device via the communication line, a registration unit that stores the ticketing information received by the receiving unit as registration information, and the registration of the ticketing information When completed, the card processing device, which is the transmission source of the ticket issuing information, has a return means for returning the information indicating the completion of the processing, and the card processing device includes an operation unit for performing the ticket issuing operation of the card, and a large number of cards. Card accommodating section for accommodating each card, a transport path communicating from the card accommodating section to a card issuing port, and after sending out the cards in the card accommodating section one by one to the transport path , Card transport means for transporting this card to the card issuing slot along the transport path, information recording means for writing ticket issuing information in the information recording part of the card transported on the transport path, and unloading the card to the card issuing slot And a detection means for detecting that the card transportation means and the information recording means are driven in response to the detection of the ejection of the card to the card issuing port by the detection means, and the next card is delivered to the transportation path. After writing the ticket issuing information in the information recording unit, the issuing preparation unit that stops the card conveying unit and puts the card on standby in the conveying path, and the ticket issuing information written in the card when the operation unit issues a ticket issuing operation. Is transmitted to the control device via the communication line, and when the control device returns information indicating the completion of the processing in response to this transmission, the card transport means is re-driven to wait. Card processing system, which comprises a card issuing means for carrying out the above card to a card issuing slot.