JP2647841B2 - Goods lending device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an apparatus capable of automatically lending articles by inserting money.

(B) Conventional technology As an automatic lending device for such articles, there is a device disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 52-8120. This is to lend exclusive shoes used for bowling games, exchange coins for regular use shoes of gamers by inserting coins, and lend special shoes for games,
In addition, when the game-specific shoes are returned, the regular shoes are exchanged. Japanese Patent Publication No. 41-7094 discloses a tape cartridge container, a tape cartridge insertion hole, a tape cartridge selection button, and a coin insertion hole.The tape cartridge is inserted into the entire tape cartridge insertion hole. 1 shows a tape cartridge automatic lending machine configured to take out a desired cartridge by operating a selection button.

(C) Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, according to the former conventional example, it is necessary to deposit articles instead of rental articles, and it is difficult to use other than rental shoes. Also, according to the latter example, since the next cartridge is taken out only by returning the borrowed tape cartridge to its original state, in this case, if it is not returned, a tape cartridge can be obtained at a relatively low rent fee. Abuse can also occur.

As described above, the use of any of the conventional lending apparatuses is limited because the article is used as an operation medium, and fraud is likely to occur. Therefore, the present invention provides a lending system using money as an operation medium, and also provides an apparatus capable of preventing financial misconduct in money transactions.

(D) Means for Solving the Problems The configuration of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. When a bill or coin is inserted, a bill discriminating device (7A) or a coin sorting device (7B) determines the appropriateness and outputs a bill signal according to the amount, and the billing amount calculating device (8) adds and counts the signal. I do. When the card is inserted into the card insertion device (1A) and the card processing device (1) reads a specific recognition code set on the card and determines that the card is suitable, the lending control device (2)
Determines the type of article that can be rented by comparing the input amount calculated by the input amount calculation device (8) with the loan price for each type of item set in the price setting device (2A). The loan price is the sum of the deposit and the lending fee to be refunded upon return.
In addition, a card compatible with the article lending device is provided with a recording unit for recording lending information together with an identification code. The lending information is an item number or a lending number of a lending item, and a lending date and time when there is a return period. The rental article is provided with a recognition unit, and records provided information such as an article number or a lending number. The selection unit (9A) has a selection switch for each type of article, and the article sending device (9) operates a selection switch corresponding to an item determined to be lendingable by the lending control device (2). Then, the sending operation of the article is performed. After sending the article, the article sending device (9) outputs a sending end signal, and the lending control device (2) outputs the lending information on the lent article to the card processing device (1) based on the signal. As a result, the card processing device (1) records the lending information on the card and returns it from the card insertion device (1A).

The return of the rented article is achieved by the customer returning the article to the returned article receiving section (3) and inserting the card into the card insertion device (1A). At this time, the discriminating device (5) compares the lending information read from the card by the card processing device (1) with the provided information read from the recognizing section of the rented item by the identification device (4), and returns the rented item. Is determined. Then, when it is determined that the article is a legitimate lending item, the money dispensing device (6) is driven to pay out the deposit. Also, if there is a due date, it is determined from the lending date and time recorded on the card whether or not the due date is met.If the due date is met, the deposit is paid out. Pay out the amount after delinquent fees.

(E) Function Lending of goods is possible by depositing a deposit. The deposit is paid when the lending information recorded on the card matches the provided information recorded on the returned article.

(F) Embodiment FIG. 2 shows an external view of an article lending apparatus (10). In this example, a recorded video cassette is lent. In the figure, the customer is a coin slot (11) or a bill slot (12).
The user inserts money into the card slot, confirms the inserted amount of money and the out-of-stock video cassette on the display device (15) using, for example, a CRT display, and inserts the card into the card slot (36).
The card according to the present invention is a card on which information can be recorded and rewritten, such as a magnetic card, a laser card, and an IC card. Video cassette rental equipment (1
In step (0), when a card is inserted, the identification code of the card recorded therein is read to determine whether a suitable card has been inserted. When a valid card is inserted, the video cassette can be rented out, but the customer can see the cassette title and the loaned price of each cassette on the cassette display shelf (14) and display panel (13) and check the desired video cassette. Is selected by operating the selection switch (S ₁ ) ... (S _n ). The video cassette selected by operating the selection switches (S ₁ )... (S _n ) is discharged to the take-out opening (16) by driving the cassette sending device. Issued by It is preferable that the receipt indicate the amount of money received, the date and time of provision, the cassette title number, and the like. A recognition unit is provided on the side of the video cassette to be rented out, and provided information such as a cassette number or a lending number is recorded with an optical recognition mark such as a bar code or recorded on a magnetic tape. Have been.

To return the cassette borrowed by the customer and return the deposit deposited together with the rental fee at the time of borrowing, return the cassette to the return receiving section (18) and insert the card into the card slot (3
6). The video cassette lending device (10) determines whether the lending information recorded on the card matches the information provided by the recognition unit. Further, the quality check of the returned video cassette is performed by, for example, reproducing the cassette at a high speed and changing the reproducibility of the recording signal or a change in mechanism. As a result, when it is determined that an appropriate video cassette has been returned, the video cassette lending device (10) pays out coins from the coin return slot (19) in accordance with the amount of the deposit, and if the bill is a bill, returns the bill. Pay out from the bill insertion slot (12), which also serves as a mouth.

FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the video cassette providing device (10). The control unit (20) controls the CPU (21) and the ROM (22) and the RAM (23) storing control programs. Consists of a board. Coin sorting apparatus (24), the banknote identification apparatus (25), selection device comprising a selection switch _{(S 1) ... (S n} ) (26), a display device (15), a cassette delivery device (27), the cassette Each of the capture device (28), the printer (29) for issuing a receipt, the card processing device (31), and the identification device (30) for reading the provided information recorded in the recognition unit of the video cassette is an I / O. O interface (3
2) and the I / O interface (32) is ROM
It is connected to the CPU (21) via the address bus (33) and the data bus (34) together with the (22) and the RAM (23). R
In the AM (23), the lending price and the deposit information for each title of each video cassette are set in advance by an input device such as a keyboard. The coin selection processing device (24) communicates with the coin slot (11) and includes a coin switch, a change detector and a coin dispensing device, sorts coins inserted into the coin slot (11), and selects appropriate coins. A coin signal generated in the coin switch by the insertion of the coin and a signal indicating the presence or absence of a change coin generated in the change detector are output to the CPU (21) through the I / O interface (32), and the CPU (21) outputs the necessary coins. To the coin sorting processor (24) through the I / O interface (32). The banknote recognition processor (25) is in communication with the banknote insertion slot (12), and when a banknote is inserted, determines the appropriateness of the banknote. If the banknote is appropriate, the banknote signal is sent to the CPU (32) through the I / O interface (32). 21), and the CPU (21) sends a signal for dispensing necessary bills to the I / O interface (32).
Through the banknote recognition processor (25). The banknote recognition processing device (25) has a banknote stack unit, and when a banknote payout signal is input, takes out the banknote from the banknote stack unit, transports the banknote in the direction opposite to the take-in direction, and transfers the banknote from the banknote insertion slot (12). Pay out. Selection device (26) is intended to include selection switch (S ₁₎ ... (S _n) provided for each of the video cassette title, is one of the selection switch (S ₁₎ ... (S _n) is operated by the customer And the corresponding selection signal is output to the CPU (21) through the I / O interface (32). The display device (15) displays the amount of money inserted and cassettes that are out of stock on the CRT display, and receives a signal from the CPU (21) through the I / O interface (32). The cassette delivery device (27) includes a drive motor for delivery for each cassette storage unit provided inside the device according to the title of the video cassette. The card processing device (31) communicates with the card slot (36), reads out the lending information recorded on the card by a magnetic signal when returning the cassette, and lends according to the lending item when lending the cassette. The information is recorded and returned to the customer from the card slot (36). The identification device (30) reads the provided information recorded in the recognition unit of the cassette inserted into the return receiving unit (18) and outputs the information to the CPU (21).

The operation of the control unit (20) will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Control unit (20) first detects the insertion of video cassette S to the return receiving portion in _one step (18) by the sensor (35) and an applied are not even when S ₂ step is to determine the insertion of money, coins When sorting apparatus (24) or banknote recognition processing device proper coins and bills are deposited coin signal or a bill signal (25) occurs, the amount inserted by performing the calculation operation according to the signals in the S ₃ step Is calculated, and this amount is displayed on the display device (15). S ₄
In step S <b> 20, the control unit (20) compares the input amount with the loan price for each title of the video cassette set in the RAM (23) to determine a video cassette that can be lent based on the input amount. At this time, if the input amount exceeds the set amount, the control unit (20) determines a cassette that can be lent according to the presence or absence of a change indicated by the coin selection processing device (24). When lending possible cassette in inserted amount is present, the control unit (20) determines whether it is inserted the proper card in S ₅ steps. When a proper card is inserted, the card processing device (31) reads and outputs a predetermined recognition code, whereby the control unit (20) determines the proper insertion of the card. When the operation of the selection switches (S ₁ )... (S _n ) corresponding to the video cassettes that can be provided is detected in step S ₆ , the control unit (20) sends a drive signal to the cassette sending device (27) in step S _7. To take out the selected video cassette from the cassette storage unit and send it out to the take-out port (16), and if necessary, the coin dispensing device of the coin sorting processing device (7B) and the bill identification processing device (7A). Control and pay out change. Control unit in S ₈ step (20) outputs the rental information such as the cassette number or lent number of cassettes rent, thereby the card processing apparatus (1) records the rental information on the recording portion of the card. The control unit (20) in the S ₉ step, the card processing device (1) by the card inlet (36)
After controlling the card return from, the S ₁₀ step is driven by outputting the print information indicating receipt amount and lending date and lending video cassette kind to a printer (29), and issues a receipt having printed these data.

Next, when the customer inserts a video cassette to the return receiving portion (18) for the return, the control unit in S ₁₁ (20) examines the recognition of the cassette by operating the identification device (4), S ₁₂ step Then, the control unit (20) determines whether or not the signal output from the identification device (4) includes the provided information. If a video cassette irrelevant to the present apparatus or a foreign substance similar thereto is improperly inserted into the return receiving unit (18), the identification information (4) does not detect the provided information and can be reliably discriminated. When the proper video cassette is inserted in the return receiving portion (18), the control unit (20) determines whether it is inserted the proper card in S ₁₃ step. Rental information card processing device (1) when contains a predetermined identification code to the signal output read from the card, the control unit (20) is read with the card processing apparatus (1) recognition code S ₁₄ step And the provided information read by the identification device (4). If a video cassette of the type recorded on the card has been returned, the cassette number or lending number indicated by the lending information and the provided information is the same, and the control unit (20) determines the validity of the return. The control unit in S ₁₅ step (20) checks the quality of the returned video cassette, S is normal
_{In 16} steps, a drive signal is given to the cassette take-in device (28) to take the cassette inserted in the return receiving portion (18) into the machine. Next, the control unit (20) outputs the amount information of deposit at S ₁₇ step into RAM coin sorting processor reads from (23) (24) or the banknote recognition apparatus (25), contained in these devices coins The dispensing device and the bill dispensing device are driven to refund the deposit.

(G) Effects of the Invention According to the present invention, it is possible to lend by depositing a deposit, so that the invention can be applied to various lending devices. In order to recognize the customer by the card, a lending device for a specific person becomes possible. In addition, at the time of return, the record information of the card and the record information of the article are collated and the deposit is refunded, so that it is possible to sufficiently cope with fraud or erroneous use.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the present invention, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a video cassette lending apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the apparatus, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the control unit. (1) ... card processing device, (2) ... lending control device,
(3) ... Returned goods receiving section, (4) ... Identification device,
(5) ... discriminating device, (6) ... money dispensing device.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An article lending apparatus in which a card having a recording unit for recording lending information is insertable and a recognizing unit for recording provided information is set for a lending article, wherein the lending information is provided when lending the article. A card processing device that records and reads lending information when returning lending articles, a lending control device that controls lending of articles by inserting a predetermined amount of money and inserting a card, a returned goods receiving section, and a returned goods receiving section. An identification device that identifies the recognition unit of the returned article, a determination device that determines the appropriateness of the article return based on the provided information read by the identification device and the lending information read by the card processing device, and the article return is appropriate. And a money dispensing device for dispensing a predetermined deposit.