JPS6341461B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a public telephone system, and particularly to a public telephone system that allows the unit charge or billing time interval to be changed by simple changes or operations in the station equipment without changing the functions of the public telephone. It concerns the telephone system.

Conventionally, for public telephones that collect charges based on distance-based and time-difference methods, charges were collected in integer multiples of the unit charge amount, depending on the distance to the destination and the duration of the call. In addition, in the case of this method, each time a unit charge is collected, a signal for collecting the charge is received from the telephone exchange, and based on this signal, the control unit in the public telephone and the storage mechanism etc. Depending on the operation, a unit charge is collected each time a signal is received, or signal information for collecting charges is stored in a public telephone or the like;
A method was adopted in which charges were collected in a lump sum after the end of the call. Another method is to determine the billing time interval corresponding to the destination of the call using a dial signal within the public telephone, and then receive signals from the exchange at regular intervals depending on the destination of the call to collect charges. A method was also considered in which charges were collected based on the length of the call using only the functions within the public telephone.

In addition, in public telephones that use coins, the method of collecting charges after the end of a call is to select the combination that causes the least loss for the user among several types of money inserted into the public telephone. There were also methods of collecting the fee and returning the remaining amount, or having the user insert a small amount of additional money after the call ended and collecting the fee so that the user did not lose money.

However, in each of the above methods,
All of these methods have the disadvantage that when changing charges, that is, changing or adding unit charges, or changing billing time intervals, the functions of public telephones, etc. must be changed.

In view of the above points, the present invention has been made to eliminate such drawbacks.The purpose of the present invention is to make it possible to change unit charges and billing time intervals without changing the functions of public telephones, etc. Our goal is to provide you with a public telephone system that you can use.

In order to achieve such an objective, the present invention
After sending a dialing signal from a public telephone, the unit charge and billing time interval information are created in the in-house device, and the above unit charge and billing time interval information are sent to the public telephone before making a call, and the public telephone calculates the total amount of coins inserted. When the amount is equal to or larger than the unit charge, information indicating that connection is possible is sent to the in-office device.Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

The figure is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the public telephone system according to the present invention. Only the parts necessary for explanation are shown.
An example of the case where the present invention is applied to a coin-operated public telephone is shown.

In the figure, numeral 1 indicates a public telephone, and numeral 2 indicates an in-office device such as a telephone exchange. 3 is a public telephone 1 and an in-office device 2
It is a line that connects the

On the public telephone 1 side, numeral 4 detects the inserted money and determines the type of the coin, and 5 receives the output of the inserted coin detection/discrimination part 4 as an input and detects the inserted coin. A storage section for storing the type and amount of input money stores the type and amount of money, and 6 is a dial signal sending section that sends out a dial signal.

On the side of the in-office device 2, 7 is a dial signal reading unit that reads the dial signal, 8 is a dial signal storage unit that receives the output of the dial signal reading unit 7 and stores the dial signal, and 9 is a dial signal storage unit 8. A unit charge/charging time interval information creation section 10 extracts a part of the output of the unit charge/charging time interval information to create necessary charge unit and charging time interval information; a billing information sending unit 13 that sends the information to the public telephone 1 side;
is the exchange connection.

On the side of the public telephone 1, reference numeral 11 denotes a billing information receiving section that receives unit charges and billing time interval information from the in-office device 2, and 12 denotes an output of the billing information receiving section 11 and an output of the storage section 5 for storing the type and amount of coins inserted. is input, and when the total amount of money inserted is equal to or larger than the unit charge, the telephone control unit sends information indicating that connection is possible to the exchange connection unit 13 on the side of the in-office device 2, 14 is a telephone call control unit. 15 is a money storage/return processing unit that is controlled by the output of the telephone control unit 12 and processes the storage and return of money; It is a safe for storing coins and a return slot for returning coins.

Next, the operation of the embodiment shown in this figure will be explained.
First, in the inserted coin detection/discrimination unit 4 configured in the public telephone 1, when the user
detects and discriminates the type of money inserted into the input slot (not shown), sends this information to the input currency type/amount storage unit 5, and detects and discriminates the type of coin inserted into the input coin detection/discrimination unit 4. Store monetary information. If the user subsequently inserts additional coins until the end of the call, the information will be stored in the same manner as above.

On the other hand, when the user dials, the dial signal transmitter 6 sends a call party selection signal to the line 3.
The signal is then sent to an in-office device 2 such as a telephone exchange, and then sent to a dial signal reading section 7 provided in the in-office device 2. Then, this dial signal reading section 7 reads the dial signal, and this reading information is sent to the dial signal storage section 8, where the dial signal is stored and the necessary part is charged as a unit fee. The unit charge and charging time interval information is sent to the time interval information creation section 9, and the unit charge/charging time interval information creation section 9 creates the necessary unit charge and charging time interval information, and this information is sent to the charging information transmission section 10, 3 and then sent to the public telephone 1 side.

A billing information receiving section 11 provided in the public telephone 1 receives the unit charge and billing time interval information sent from the billing information sending section 10 of the in-office device 2, and sends this to the telephone control section 12. Then, the telephone control unit 12 can be connected when the total amount of the inserted money from the storage unit 5 for the type and amount of input money is equal to or larger than the unit charge from the billing information receiving unit 11. The information indicating this is sent via the line 3 to an exchange connection section 13 provided in the in-office device 2, and this exchange connection section 13 connects the public telephone 1 to the other party.

When the other party answers, a response signal from the other party is sent from or through the exchange connection section 13 to the telephone control section 12 provided in the public telephone 1.
A signal indicating "call available" is sent to the talking section 14, and the user of the public telephone 1 can start talking to the other party.

Then, based on the previously obtained unit charge and billing time interval information, the telephone control unit 12 processes the storage and return of coins so that the inserted coins are sequentially stored in the safe 16 according to the call charge after the call or during the call. The instruction information is sent to the unit 15. After the call ends, if there is any remaining money in the inserted coins,
The telephone control unit 12 is connected to the money storage/return unit 15.
The remaining amount is sent to the return port 17, and the remaining amount is returned to the user.

The embodiment shown in this figure is for a public telephone that uses money, but the same applies to cases where a card or other object with the amount of money, number of calls, etc. written on it is used instead of money. It can be processed using the following methods. As an example, when using a magnetic card with an amount written on it, a magnetic card reader is used in place of the inserted coin detection/discrimination unit 4 in the embodiment shown in the figure, and a magnetic card reader is used for storing and returning coins. Using a magnetic card writing device instead of the processing unit 15, the remaining amount is re-recorded on the magnetic card, and after the call ends, the card is returned to the return slot 17.
There are methods such as processing by sending the information to

In addition, as a means of transmitting the above-mentioned billing information, since telephone calls are not carried out simultaneously at the time of transmission, polarity inversion pulse signals, MF signals, FS signals, PS signals, etc., which have been conventionally used as subscriber line signals, are used. can do.

As explained above, according to the present invention, public telephones are highly adaptable to changes in unit charges or when using multiple unit charges corresponding to various services, and the charging time interval is It can range from shorter intervals to infinitely large intervals. Further, since the information regarding billing is sent and received before starting a call or communication other than a call, there is an advantage that there is no risk that the signal as billing information will interfere with the call or communication other than the call.

In addition, if the total amount of coins inserted is equal to or larger than the unit charge, the call is started after the public telephone sends information that it is possible to connect to the station equipment, so the called party hangs up due to insufficient charge. There is no possibility that the call will become unavailable as soon as the number is raised, and there will be no needless operation of the called party or the equipment in the office. Furthermore, since both the unit charge and billing time interval information are used, it is possible to combine these two pieces of information to set charges according to the service, which has the advantage of being able to provide a wide range of services.

As described above, the present invention has great effects compared to the conventional public telephone system, and the unit charge and billing time can be reduced by simple changes or operations of the in-office equipment without changing the functions of the public telephone etc. This is a unique public telephone system in which the interval can be changed.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The figure is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the public telephone system according to the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...Public telephone, 2...Internal device, 6...Dial signal sending section, 7...Dial signal reading section, 8...Dial signal storage section, 9...Unit charge/charging time interval information creation section , 10...billing information sending unit, 11...billing information receiving unit, 12...telephone control unit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 After sending a dial signal from a public telephone,
creating unit charges and billing time interval information in an in-office device, transmitting the unit charges and billing time interval information to the public telephone before making a call, and in the public telephone, the total amount of banknotes inserted is equal to the unit charge; The public telephone system is characterized in that information indicating that connection is possible is sent to the in-office device when the number of calls is greater than or equal to that of the telephone number.