JPS6393091A - Card type marketing system - Google Patents

Abstract

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

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a system for selling products or services using cards such as prepped magnetic cards instead of cash.

(Conventional technology) Prepaid magnetic cards recording the amount of money that can be used are distributed to cafeteria users in advance, and the difference between the amount of money that can be used on the inserted magnetic card and a certain menu price is calculated as a new amount. A card-type sales system is provided in which a card-dedicated terminal device that writes the available amount on the card is installed in the cafeteria for each menu, and this magnetic card is used to sell and provide meals to cafeteria users. , has recently been developed.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

By the way, in the terminal device of this system, if the displayed amount on the inserted magnetic card is smaller than the menu price, unlike the cash type devices such as public telephones for telephone cards and JNR ticket vending machines for orange cards, the amount of the shortfall will be displayed. cannot be replenished with cash.

Therefore, in this system, there is a problem in that in the above case, the inserted magnetic card cannot be used as is to receive sales.

This invention was made in view of the above-mentioned points, and it is possible to use the card as it is to receive sales even if the inserted card does not have enough value in a card-type sales system equipped with a card-dedicated terminal device. The aim is to provide a system that can.

[Means for solving problems]

The card-type sales system according to the present invention includes a card in which at least amount information indicating the amount of money that can be used with the card is recorded, a reading means for reading the recorded information of the inserted card, and a reading means for reading out the recorded information of the inserted card, and a reading means for reading out the recorded information of the inserted card. determining means for determining the magnitude relationship between the displayed amount of the amount information and a predetermined selling price;

The difference obtained by subtracting the selling price from the sum of the displayed amount and the displayed amount of the amount information read from the newly inserted card, provided that the displayed amount is determined to be smaller by the determining means. and a terminal device that includes a calculation means for calculating the difference, and a writing means for at least writing the information indicating the difference as new amount information to any inserted card. It is said that

This is illustrated in FIG. 1. 1 is a card,
2 is a terminal device. In the terminal device 2, 3 is a reading means, 4 is a determining means, 5 is a calculating means, and 6 is a writing means.

[Effect]

If the displayed price of the first inserted card is smaller than the selling price, the determining means makes a determination to that effect.

When a new card is inserted, the calculation means calculates the difference by subtracting the selling price from the sum of the displayed amounts of the first inserted card and the new inserted card. The writing means writes this difference as new amount information to any of the inserted cards.

In this way, if the amount of money on the first inserted card is insufficient, the insufficient amount can be replenished with the amount on the new inserted card and sales can be made. Therefore, the first inserted card can be used as is to receive sales.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Here, we will explain the system adopted in the above-mentioned company cafeteria as an example.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the data format of a magnetic card used in the system.

This data format includes "purchasable balance". "Available for purchase balance" records amount information indicating the balance of the card (that is, the amount of money that can be used with the card).

This data format also includes other information, but since they are not directly related to the present invention, their explanation will be omitted.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the configuration of a terminal device used in the system. The main control unit 8 includes a microprocessor, memory,
Consisting of registers, timers, reset sections, etc., the terminal device 7
It controls each part of the. The communication control mechanism 9 is responsible for exchanging signals with a system controller (not shown).

The magnetic card control mechanism 10 and the magnetic card reader/writer 11 read and write information to and from a magnetic card inserted into the terminal device 7. The panel mechanism 12 is an arrangement of switches such as a confirmation switch and a cancellation switch, and indicators such as an LED for displaying an amount of money, an LED for confirmation, and an LED for indicating insufficient balance. The panel control mechanism 13 serves as an interface between the main control section 8 and the panel mechanism 12. In addition, the terminal device 7
The appearance of the panel mechanism 12 and the like is not particularly shown.

Next, an example of sales processing by this card type sales system will be explained with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

As shown in FIG. 4, predetermined initial processing is first performed. As part of this initial processing, information for displaying menu prices is set by the system controller to the terminal device i! It is given to the communication control mechanism 9 at t7. In the terminal device 7, this information is stored in the memory of the main control section 8. Further, as another part of this initial processing, all registers of the main control section 8 are reset.

When the initial processing is completed, the process proceeds to step 101.
It is determined whether a card (in this case, the first card) has been inserted into the terminal device 7 by the user. If the card has not been inserted, this judgment is repeated, and if the first card is inserted, the process proceeds to step 102.

In step 102, the recorded information of the inserted card (i.e., amount information of ``purchasable balance'' and other information) is transferred to the magnetic card control mechanism 10 and the magnetic card reader/
It is read by the writer 11 and stored in the register R1 of the main control section 8.

Subsequently, in step 103, it is determined whether the inserted card is a valid card based on the other information in the register R1. If the card is valid, the process proceeds to step 104, and if the card is not valid, the process proceeds to a predetermined abnormality process (the abnormality process is not related to the present invention, so a description thereof will be omitted).

In step 104, the display balance of the amount information in the register R1 is displayed by lighting up on the amount display LED of the panel mechanism 11.

Subsequently, in step 105, the register R2 of the main control section 8
Determine whether the stored contents of are zero.

Here, since the register R2 remains reset in the initial process, the determination is YES and the process proceeds to step 106.

In step 106, it is determined whether the displayed balance of the monetary information in the register R1 (here, the monetary information of the first inserted card) is equal to or greater than the menu price in the memory. If the displayed balance of this first inserted card is smaller than the menu price, the process proceeds to shortage processing.

The shortage process consists of a process as shown in FIG. First, in step 201, the LED for indicating insufficient balance on the panel mechanism 12 is turned on. Therefore, in step 202, after storing the amount information in the register R1 (in this case, the amount information of the first inserted card) in the register R2, the amount information in the register R1 is stored.
Reset. Subsequently, in step 203, the magnetic card control mechanism 10 and the magnetic card control mechanism 10 add the information indicating the balance of zero to the "allowable balance" of the inserted cart (in this case, the first inserted cart) as the amount information indicating the new balance. Write using the magnetic card reader/writer 11.

Subsequently, in step 204, the inserted card is returned. Subsequently, in step 205, it is determined whether the card has been removed from the terminal device 7 by the user. If it has not been removed, this judgment is repeated, and if it has been removed, the process advances to step 206. In step 206, the LED for indicating insufficient balance on the panel mechanism 12 is turned off.

When the shortage process is performed in this way, step 10
Returning to step 1, it is determined whether a card (here, the second card) has been inserted into the terminal device 7 by the user. When the second card is inserted, steps 102 to 105 are performed for the second card in the same manner as described above. and,
This time, since the amount information of the first inserted card is stored in the register R2, YES is determined in step 105 and the process proceeds to step 107.

In step 107, the amount information in the register R1 (here, the amount information on the second inserted card) is converted into amount information that displays the sum of the displayed balance of the amount information and the displayed balance of the amount information in the register R2. Rewrite. When step 107 is completed, the process proceeds to step 106.

In step 106, the displayed balance of the amount information in the register R1 (this time, the sum of the displayed balance of the amount information of the first inserted card and the displayed balance of the amount information of the second inserted card) is
Determine whether the price is greater than or equal to the menu price in memory.

If the sum of the displayed balances of these second inserted cards is greater than or equal to the menu price, the process proceeds to step 108. On the other hand, if the sum of the displayed balances of these second inserted cards is also smaller than the menu price, the shortage process and steps 101 to 1 are performed.
The processes of steps 05, 107, and 106 are repeated until the sum of the displayed balances of all inserted cards including the third and subsequent inserted cards also exceeds the menu price, and the process proceeds to step 108.

In step 108, the confirmation LED of the panel mechanism 12 is blinked.

Next, in step 109, the user selects the panel mechanism 1.
It is determined whether or not the confirmation switch No. 2 has been pressed. If the confirmation switch has not been pressed, the process advances to step 110 and it is determined whether the cancellation switch of the panel mechanism 12 has been pressed. If the cancel switch has been pressed, the process proceeds to step 115 and subsequent steps (card return processing), and if it has not been pressed, the determination in step 109 is repeated. If the confirmation switch is not pressed, the process advances to step 111.

In step 111, the confirmation LED of the panel mechanism 12 is turned on.

Subsequently, in step 112, the displayed balance of the amount information in the register R1 (if the sum of the displayed balances of the first inserted card and the second inserted card is greater than or equal to the menu price, the sum is the menu price; If the balance is smaller than , the information displaying the difference obtained by subtracting the menu price in memory from the sum of displayed balances of all inserted cards including the third and subsequent inserted cards is added to the new balance (i.e., the new balance). The amount information that displays the amount of money that can be used is the amount of money that is displayed on the inserted card (if the sum of the displayed balances of the first inserted card and the second inserted card is equal to or higher than the menu price, the second inserted card, and the corresponding If the sum is smaller than the menu price, the magnetic card control mechanism 10 and magnetic card reader/writer 11 write in the "grooveable balance" of the last inserted card.

Subsequently, in step 113, it is determined whether or not there was an error in the reduction writing process of step 112. If not, the process proceeds to step 114, and if so, the process moves to a predetermined write error temporary process (description of the write error temporary process will be omitted).

In step 114, the amount display LED of the panel mechanism 12 lights up to display the balance after writing the reduction.

Subsequently, in step 115, the inserted card is returned.

Subsequently, in step 116, it is determined whether the card has been removed from the terminal device 7 by the user.

If it has not been removed, this judgment is repeated, and if it has been removed, the process advances to step 117.

In step 117, each display on the panel l4i 12 is turned off and registers R1 and R2 are reset.

Subsequently, after waiting for a predetermined time in step 118, the process returns to step 101 to determine whether or not the next card is inserted.

In this way, in this card-based sales system, if the amount of money is insufficient on the first inserted card, the insufficient amount is transferred to a new inserted card (the second inserted card, or the second and subsequent inserted cards). You can replenish the amount and receive sales.

In this embodiment, a calculation process is performed in which the sum of the displayed amounts of the first inserted card and the new inserted card is calculated, and the menu price is subtracted from the sum.

As a result, it is only necessary to find the difference by subtracting the menu price from the sum, so the calculation process is not limited to this. - For example, a calculation process may be performed in which the deficit amount of the first inserted card is first determined and the deficit amount is subtracted from the displayed amount of the new inserted card.

Further, in this embodiment, the card-type sales system according to the present invention is employed in the cafeteria, but this card-type sales system may be employed to sell appropriate products or services.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, information indicating the amount of zero is written to the first inserted card, and information indicating the difference in amount is written to the new inserted card, but there is no need to limit it to this, and in short, , it is only necessary to perform at least a process of writing information indicating the difference in any of the inserted cards.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the card-based sales system according to the present invention, if the amount of money on the first inserted card is smaller than the sales price, the missing amount on the card is supplemented with the amount on the newly inserted card and the sale is started. Can receive. Therefore, even in the above case, the first inserted card can be used as is to receive sales.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of a card-based sales system according to the present invention; FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the data format of a magnetic card used in an embodiment of the card-based sales system according to the invention; FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the terminal device used in the embodiment, FIG. 4 is a flowchart schematically showing an example of a program executed by the main control unit in the terminal device in FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the process of shortage processing in the flowchart of FIG. 4. FIG. 2, 7... terminal device, 3... reading means, 4... determining means, 5... calculating means, 6... writing means, 8... main control section, 9...・Communication control mechanism, 1
0... Magnetic card control mechanism, 11... Magnetic card reader/writer, 12... Panel mechanism, 13... Panel control mechanism.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A card that records at least amount information indicating the amount of money that can be used with the card, a reading means for reading out the recorded information of the inserted card, and a reading means for reading out the recorded information of the inserted card; A determining means for determining the magnitude relationship between the displayed amount of the amount information and a predetermined sales price, and a newly inserted card with the displayed amount, provided that the determining means determines that the displayed amount is smaller. calculation means for calculating a difference by subtracting the selling price from the sum of the displayed amount of the amount information read from the above;
A card-type sales system comprising: a terminal device including at least a writing means for performing a process of writing information indicating the difference as new amount information to any inserted card. 2. The writing means writes the first inserted card (if there are multiple newly inserted cards, the first inserted card and the last inserted card among the plurality of cards). The process of writing information that displays an amount of zero as new amount information for a newly inserted card (if there are multiple newly inserted cards, the last inserted card) ) to write information that displays the difference as new amount information,
A card-type sales system according to claim 1, which performs the following. 3. The card-type sales system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the card is a magnetic card. 4. The card-type sales system according to claim 1, 2, or 3, wherein the terminal device is a card-only device (that is, cash cannot be used). 5. The card-type sales system according to claim 1 or 2 or 3 or 4, which is adopted for selling and distributing meals in a cafeteria.