JPH10188048A - Train ticket issue system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To effectively support the purchase of train ticket by providing a responding means for responding to a user through an automatic ticket vending machine, inputting train ticket purchase information such as the destination of user and the number of tickets in voice based on that response and issuing the tickets based on this inputted train ticket purchase information. SOLUTION: Assuming that a user is confused in the operation of train ticket purchase and presses a call button 7, in this case, a lamp 26 for an automatic ticket vending machine a1 is turned on/off so that a clerk B operates (presses) a changeover switch 25 related to the turned-on/off lamp 26 and the automatic ticket vending machine a1 is connected with a clerk processor (b). Then, the image of the user picked up by a video camera 2 at the automatic ticket vending machine is displayed on a display screen 22 of clerk processor (b) snf the image of clerk B picked up by a television camera 21 of clerk processor (b) is displayed on a display screen 3 of automatic ticket vending machine a1. In such a state, the response in voice is started through microphones 5 and 23 and speakers 6 and 24 on the automatic ticket vending machine a1 and the clerk processor (b).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a ticket issuing system comprising an automatic ticket vending machine for issuing a ticket and an attendant processing machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when an automatic ticket vending machine receives money (including a case where money is paid by a card such as a prepaid card) which satisfies the pressed account button and the amount of money of the account button, the vending machine receives the money. A ticket corresponding to the account button is issued.

There has also been proposed a voice input type automatic ticket vending machine which can omit an account button, input a destination, the number of sheets, and the like by voice and purchase a ticket. This voice-input type automatic ticket vending machine has a feature that it is not necessary to check the fare to a destination station (destination) in advance, unlike the automatic button-type automatic ticket vending machine.

[0004]

However, among the above-mentioned conventional ticket vending machines, account button type vending machines have recently been used, in particular, in addition to ordinary tickets, cards such as coupons and stored fair cards. In the invention, passengers who are unfamiliar with automatic ticket vending machines have become multifunctional, such as being able to purchase coupons and cards, etc.) and purchasing tickets for other companies' lines. Was confused about buying a ticket.

[0005] In addition, the automatic ticket vending machine of the voice input type has a problem that a loud noise is generated in the station premises where the vending machine is installed, and furthermore, the recognition rate is low and the occurrence rate of erroneous input is high due to differences in voice characteristics of each user. was there.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks, and an object of the present invention is to provide a ticket issuing system capable of effectively supporting a user to purchase a ticket.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, a ticket issuing system according to the present invention has a predetermined ticket on condition that money satisfying the purchase price of the predetermined ticket has been inserted. And vice versa, and a response means for responding to the user via the vending machine,
A valet processor having voice input means for inputting ticket purchase information such as the destination and the number of tickets of the user based on the response, and ticketing control for issuing a ticket based on the ticket input information input by voice. Means. The response means for responding to the user includes a display screen.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a schematic configuration of a ticket issuing system according to an embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an electrical configuration thereof.

The automatic ticket vending machine a1 is installed in the station premises like a well-known automatic ticket vending machine. The attendant processing machine b is installed in the station office. Although FIG. 1 shows only one automatic ticket vending machine a1, as shown in FIG.
A plurality of automatic ticket vending machines a1 to an are provided for the attendant processing machine b. The automatic ticket vending machines a1 to an and the attendant processing b are connected to each other by a communication line L including a voice line L1 and a data line L2.

The front of the housing 1 of the automatic ticket vending machine a1 (service side)
A television camera (video camera) 2 for capturing an image of the user A is provided on the upper side. Below the television camera 2, there is provided a display screen 3 on which a guidance display such as an inserted amount and a change can be displayed, and a clerk B taken by the clerk processor b can be displayed.

At substantially the center of the housing 1, there are provided an account button group 4 similar to a well-known vending machine, and a microphone 5 and a speaker 6 for calling and responding to a staff member.
And a call button 7 are provided. Although not denoted by a reference numeral, a cash slot, a change outlet, and a ticket issuing port are provided at the center of the housing 1.

In the housing 1, a money processing unit 8 for checking the inserted money and discharging change as necessary.
The ticket processing unit 9 which prints predetermined contents on the face of the ticket, writes magnetic data and issues the ticket, and controls the entire automatic ticket vending machine a1 as a whole, and communicates with the attendant processing machine b. And a controller 10 for performing the operation (see FIG. 2).

The other automatic ticket vending machines a2 to an also use the automatic ticket vending machine a
It has the same configuration as 1. And each vending machine a1
~ An is configured in the same manner as a conventional account button type automatic ticket vending machine, that is, by inputting a fee corresponding to the pressed account button, a predetermined ticket can be purchased. I have.

A television camera (video camera) 21 is provided above the housing 20 of the attendant processor b. Below the television camera 21, a display screen 2 on which the user a captured by the automatic ticket vending machine a can be displayed.
2 are provided.

An operation console 20 'in the center of the housing 20 is provided with a microphone 23 and a speaker 24 for responding to the user. In addition, this console 20 'includes:
The automatic ticket vending machine to which the attendant processing machine b is connected via the changeover switch 25 (connected to the automatic ticket vending machine a1 in the example of FIG. 2) and the automatic ticket vending machine for which the call button 7 is pressed are displayed. A lamp 26 is provided. In FIG. 2, the black lamp 26 indicates that the connection is being performed, and the radiation stamp lamp 26 indicates that the call button 7 is pressed and the lamp 26 is flashing.

The console 20 'is further provided with a voice recognition enable button 27 and an input confirmation button 28. Of these, the voice recognition enable button 27 is
3 is used to take in the voice of the staff taken in from 3 into the voice recognizer 29, and the input determination button 28 is used to determine the destination, the number, etc., of the voice-inputted tickets.

Next, the control operation when the automatic ticket vending machine a1 is connected to the attendant processing machine b will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

Now, it is assumed that the user A cannot understand the operation of purchasing a ticket and presses the call button 7 (Yes at Step 100; hereinafter, Step is referred to as S). When the call button 7 is pressed, the lamp 26 for the automatic ticket vending machine a1 blinks and lights up, so that the attendant B operates (presses) the changeover switch 25 related to the lamp 26 which blinks and lights up. This allows
The automatic ticket vending machine a1 and the attendant processing machine b are in a connected state, and the lamp 26 changes from blinking to lighting.

When the automatic ticket vending machine a1 and the attendant processing machine b are connected, the user A picked up by the television camera 2 of the automatic ticket vending machine a1 is displayed on the display screen 22 of the attendant processing machine b, and The attendant B imaged by the television camera 21 of the processing machine b is displayed on the display screen 3 of the automatic ticket vending machine a1 (see FIG. 1). Then, in this state, the automatic ticket vending machine a1
And a voice response is started via the microphones 5 and 23 and the speakers 6 and 24 of the attendant processor b (S10).
2).

During the response between the user A and the clerk B, if the user A is about to get on a predetermined station (Yes at S104), the clerk pushes down the voice recognition enable button 27 and returns to the predetermined station. Voice input is performed in such a manner that the contents of the ticket such as "destination" and "number of sheets" are repeated (S106).

The contents inputted by voice, that is, destination, number of sheets, etc. are displayed on the display screen 3 of the automatic ticket vending machine a1 and the attendant processing machine b.
Is displayed on the display screen 22, the input confirmation button 28 is pressed when the confirmation from the user A is obtained (S10).
8 affirmation). As a result, the automatic ticket vending machine a1 has the account button group 4
Is in the same state as pressing the predetermined account button,
If money of an amount that satisfies the charge of the account button is inserted into the automatic ticket vending machine a1, a ticket corresponding to the account button is issued.

As described above, since the user responds while looking at the display screens 3 and 22, the conversation proceeds smoothly, and the voice input is performed in a quiet station office and by a person skilled in voice input. Therefore, there is a feature that occurrence of erroneous input is extremely reduced.

Next, for reference, an example of a response between the user A and the attendant B is shown below.

Response example 1 User: I'm sorry. I want to go to Shinjuku ... Staff: (I saw the user on the display screen 22 and judged that I was one adult) Is it OK for one adult? User: Yes. Staff: To Shinjuku. (Repeat while pressing the voice recognition enable button 27 at “”. Voice recognition is performed immediately, and the input result “Shinjuku” is displayed on the display screens 3 and 22. When the staff presses the input confirmation button 28, the automatic The input data is sent to the ticket vending machine a1 via the data line, and the fare is displayed on both the automatic vending machine a1 and the attendant processing machine b1.) 1,230 yen. thank you very much.

Response Example 2 A user of the automatic ticket vending machine a2 presses the call button 7. The lamp 26 of the attendant process b flashes and lights. However, the attendant B is waiting for the user of the automatic ticket vending machine a1, so that the user of the automatic ticket vending machine a2 waits for a while, and during that time, the display "Please wait" is displayed on the automatic ticket vending machine a2. Is out. Eventually, the reception of the attendant B and the user of the automatic ticket vending machine a1 has been completed, and the user operates the changeover switch 25 to start the reception of the user of the automatic ticket vending machine a2. Staff: Thank you very much. What are your requirements? User: Sorry, Shinkansen to Tokyo, 1 adult
One, two children ... Staff: (while watching the display screen 22) Is one of your children still toddling? User: Yes ... Staff: If you are a small child under 6 years old, it is free if your mother sits down. User: Oh, is that so! Thank you for bothering. Staff: Will the Shinkansen be reserved or unreserved? User: I would like a free seat. Staff: "One adult and one child up to Tokyo with unreserved seats."
(When the voice recognition enable button 27 is pressed with “”, the input setting is immediately displayed on both the display screens 3 and 22.
same as below. ) Where do you go from Tokyo? User: To Koiwa. Staff: "To Koiwa." … Are you sure? User: Yes. Person in charge: I was smart. (Press the input confirmation button 28. The fare details and the total amount etc. are displayed on both display screens 3, 22.) Well, the total is 4,560 yen. Please put one bill at a time. User: Um ... where should I put it? Staff: At the bottom of the customer's right hand side (while confirming the user's movement on the display screen 22), is there a picture of a bill around that? . User: Oh, here! Person in charge: (while checking the movement of the user on the display screen 22)
Yes, there. Please insert bills one by one slowly. (… Abbreviated below…)

In the above example, a plurality of automatic ticket vending machines a1 to a1
n, one clerk processing machine b was used.
May be made to correspond. However, since inquiries from users are not so large, the number of attendant processing machines can be reduced and the equipment cost can be reduced according to the above example.

Although the voice recognizer 29 is provided on the attendant processor b, it may be provided on each of the automatic ticket vending machines a1 to an. However, if it is provided on the clerk processing machine b side, it can be shared by the automatic ticket vending machines a1 to an.

[0028]

The ticket issuing system according to the present invention comprises an automatic ticket vending machine for issuing a predetermined ticket on condition that money satisfying the purchase amount of the predetermined ticket has been inserted, and the automatic ticket vending machine. An attendant processor having voice input means for inputting ticket purchase information such as the destination and the number of tickets of the user based on the response. And ticketing control means for issuing tickets based on the obtained ticket purchase information, so that it is possible to effectively support ticket purchase. Further, when the response means for responding to the user includes the display screen, the conversation between the user and the attendant can be performed smoothly.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a ticket issuing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a control operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

 a1 to an automatic ticket vending machine b attendant processing machine L communication line i user b attendant 1 housing 2 TV camera 3 display screen 4 account button group 5 microphone 6 speaker 7 call button 20 housing 21 TV camera 22 display screen 23 microphone 24 Speaker 25 Changeover switch 26 Lamp 27 Voice recognition enable button 28 Input confirmation button 29 Voice recognizer

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An automatic ticket vending machine for issuing a predetermined ticket on condition that money satisfying the purchase price of the predetermined ticket has been inserted, and a response means for responding to a user via the automatic ticket vending machine. A clerk processing machine having voice input means for inputting ticket purchase information such as the destination and number of copies of the user based on the response, and issuing a ticket based on the ticket input information input by voice And a ticketing control means for performing the following. 2. The ticket issuing system according to claim 1, wherein the response means for responding to the user includes a display screen.