JPS60225992A - Coin storage apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Technical Field) The present invention relates to a coin storage device for a public telephone or the like that facilitates the management of coins and the like in a safe.

(Prior art) Conventionally, in this type of device, the amount stored in a safe has been managed by installing a counting meter on the device and recording it, or in the case of a public phone connected to a telephone office etc. by line, The method is to send the collected amount to the station and record it at the station, which has the drawback that it is difficult to prevent fraudulent methods such as tampering with the counting meter.
There were drawbacks, such as the transmission equipment to the station and the reception and ringing equipment at the station were expensive.

There is also a method of collecting the safe with all the coins in the safe and replacing it with an empty safe, but it is necessary to install a shutter mechanism that prevents the coins from being taken out from the safe once removed from the device. The mechanism was complex, prone to breakdowns, and was heavy and expensive.

(Object of the Invention) An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems and to realize a coin storage device that makes it easy to take out coins in a safe and manage the amount of money stored.

(Structure of the Invention) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a card on which information indicating that it is for coin collection is recorded and on which the amount of money collected such as coins can be written, and a card that can read and write information on the card. With a card unit that does everything.

A lock mechanism for the safe that stores stored coins, a sensor that detects coins stored in the safe, a memory that stores the amount of money stored in the safe at that time, and a control unit that controls all of the above. The present invention is characterized in that when the card is inserted into the card unit, the locking mechanism is released and the stored amount in the memory is written to the card.

C Embodiment) FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, and here, an example is shown in which it is applied to a known magnetic card type public telephone.

In the figure, 1 is a public telephone, 2 is a card, 3 is a card unit, 4 is a coin mechanism, 5 is a safe, 6 is a safe, and 7
1 is a vault door, 8 is a locking mechanism for the vault door 7, 9 is a memory, 10 is a control unit, 11 is a communication circuit, 12 is a station interface unit, 13 is a battery, 14#-j power supply circuit, 15.
16 is a sensor for checking the storage of coins, 17 is a safe sensor, 1
8 is a storage funnel.

Car l-'2 has the same structure as a normal magnetic card for toll payment, but an identification signal indicating that it is a card for coin collection is recorded on its magnetic recording layer. The amount can be recorded together with the telephone number, etc. The card unit 3 reads out information recorded on the card 2 using a magnetic head (not shown) or the like, and also records the amount of coins stored on the card 2. The coin mechanism 4 sorts and accumulates the inserted coins, and further stores them in the safe 5 via the storage funnel 18. Each sensor 15.16
1 and 17 consist of a light emitting device such as an LED and a light receiver such as a phototransistor, 1 sensor 15 and 16 are provided in the storage passage of the coin mechanism 4 to detect coin storage, and 1 and sensor 17 are installed in the storage passage of the coin mechanism 4. Detects storage and removal of the n safe 5 provided in the safe 5. The communication circuit 111 and the station interface section 12 are each well known. In addition, power for the memory 9 and other circuits and mechanisms is supplied from a battery 13 that is constantly charged by a power supply circuit 14, so that functions will not stop or memory contents will not be destroyed due to a power outage.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a main part showing details of the locking mechanism 8, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line ■-■ in FIG. In the figure, 20
is the body of the public telephone L, 21 is the lock plate, 22 is the solenoid for driving the lock plate, 23 is the lock plate holder, 24
25 is a door opening/closing detection rod, and 25 is a door opening/closing detection switch. With this configuration, when an unlocking command is issued from the control section 10, the solenoid 22 pushes the lock plate 21 upward, and the lock plate 21 moves outside the lock plate receiver 23. Since the door 7 of the safe is constantly pushed in the opening direction by the spring 26 of the door opening/closing detection rod 24, it opens slightly to the center of the hinge 27. After replacing safe 5 with a new one, the safe Ji! 7
When all the collections have been completed, the door opening/closing detection bar 24 is pushed by the detection bar receiver 28 to operate the door opening/closing detection switch 25, and the control section 10 immediately restores the solenoid 22 based on this information and returns the card. As a result, the lock plate 21 is inserted into the lock plate receiver 23, and the door 7 of the safe is locked.

Next, the operation will be explained according to FIG. 4, which shows the operation and processing flow of the entire apparatus. In addition, Fig. 4 and Fig. 6, which will be described later,
In the figure, 0 indicates manual operation, and loco indicates processing within the telephone 1.

For normal calls, insert the card into card unit 3, or
When a coin is inserted into the coin mechanism 4, the control unit 1O makes a call via the telephone line using the station interface unit 12, and the call circuit 11 enables the user to dial and talk to the other party. The stored coins are detected by a storage confirmation sensor 15 for each coin type.
It is counted by ゜16 and led to the safe. The control unit 10 calculates the amount from the number of coins for each type of coin. The control unit 10 has a memory 9
The stored amount is added to the amount stored in the safe up to now and stored in the memory 9 as a new amount stored in the safe.

When replacing the safe 5 with a new safe, after going off-hook, make a predetermined f'L, t, o turn and insert the special card 2 into the card unit 3, which records that it is a coin collection card. After reading the nf and confirming the information, the lock mechanism 8 is unlocked as described above, and the vault door 7 is fully opened.

When the collector takes out the safe 5, f”L is detected by the safe sensor 1.
7, and the amount stored in the safe is written on the card 2 in the card unit 3. Insert an empty safe into the safe 6 instead and open the safe door 7.
When the locking mechanism 8 is closed, the control unit 10 closes the safe door 7 using the locking mechanism 8.
lock.

The card is returned by locking or on-hooking the safe door 7.

The collector recovered the safes of other public telephones using the same procedure.
Each time, the collected amount is recorded on the card 2, and when the collection work is completed, the safe 5 and the card 2 are submitted to a toll office, etc., and the amount in the safe 5 and the stored amount recorded on the card 2 are checked. By adopting this structure, the shutter mechanism conventionally required for the safe 5 is no longer required, and the safe 5 only needs to have a hole 5a for coins to pass through, making the safe extremely simple. It becomes a simple bag 1 as shown in Figure 5.
9 would be fine, and there would be very few restrictions on implementation.

Since the stored amount is recorded on the card, it is possible to open the door of the safe, take out only the coins inside, and return the safe to the public telephone without having to replace the entire safe as in the conventional case.

The above method unlocks the safe by simply inserting the coin collection card, but in order to prevent others from unlocking the safe even if the card is lost, inserting a special card and entering the PIN number from the PB dial switch is necessary. It is also possible to configure the lock to be unlocked for the first time. FIG. 6 shows a flowchart at this time. This password can be stored in a memory inside the public telephone as the same number for the public telephone to be collected, or it can be stored in a special writing type card that is not easily readable.

In addition, in the case of desk-top public telephones whose safes are entrusted to a trustee, the amount collected in the welfare treasury is recorded by the station, but a card for coin collection is given to the trustee, and only the safe can be accessed with this card. If you configure the card so that it does not open and record the amount collected on the card, you can periodically collect this card from the trustee and charge the trustee based on this. Therefore, there is no need for the bureau to record the amount collected. When multiple public telephones are all managed by the same trustee, they can be managed with a single card.

Furthermore, if you ask the trustee to purchase a coin collection card in advance for, say, 10,000 yen, and the amount collected when the card is inserted is, for example, 3,000 yen, is n a card? It is also possible to rewrite it to 7,000 yen and keep the 3,000 yen in the safe as the property of the trustee; in this case, there is no need to charge the trustee.

In addition, although a magnetic card tube was used in the example, information recording and
Any type of surface may be used as long as it can be reproduced.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, according to the present invention, there is provided a card on which information indicating that it is for coin collection is recorded and on which the amount of collected coins, etc. can be written, and a card that can be used to read and write information. a locking mechanism for the safe that stores stored coins, a sensor that detects coins stored in the safe, a memory that stores the amount of money stored in the safe at that time, and so on. The locking mechanism is released when the card is inserted into the card unit, and the amount of money stored in the memory is written to the card, thereby eliminating the need to block the conventional coin entrance. The amount of coins stored in the safe can be known reliably without requiring a safe equipped with a shutter mechanism or a transmitting/receiving device to notify the central office of the amount of money stored. It has advantages such as easy and inexpensive management.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings serve to explain the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a configuration explanatory diagram showing one embodiment of the coin storage device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of main parts showing details of the locking mechanism, and FIG. Figure 2■-
■A cross-sectional view in the direction of the line arrow, Figure 4 is a flowchart showing the operation and process flow of the entire device, Figure 5 is a perspective view of the main parts showing another example of the safe, Figure 6 is verification using a password It is a flowchart when a function is added. 1... Public telephone, 2... Card, 3... Card unit, 4... Coin mechanism, 5... Safe, 7...
Vault door, 8...Lock mechanism, 9...Memory, 1
0...Control unit, 15.16...Storage confirmation sensor, 1
7...Safe sensor. Patent Applicant Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation Agent Patent Attorney Yoshi 1) Takashi Sei

Claims (1)

[Claims] A card on which information indicating that it is for coin collection is recorded and on which the amount of stored coins, etc. can be written; a card unit that reads and writes information from and to the card; a locking mechanism for a safe that stores stored coins; A sensor for detecting coins stored in the safe, a memory for storing the amount of money stored in the safe at that time, and a control section for controlling the coins f' when the card is inserted into the card unit L. A coin storage device characterized in that the locking mechanism is released and the stored amount in the memory is written on the card when the coin storage device is turned on.