JP2862665B2 - Prepaid card watt-hour meter - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a prepaid card type watt hour meter using a prepaid card.

(Prior Art) A prepaid card watt-hour meter subtracts the amount of power consumed from the prepaid amount recorded on the prepaid card while subtracting the amount of power corresponding to the amount recorded on the prepaid card. Although it can be used, if the balance of the prepaid card runs out, power cannot be used.

Prepaid card-type watt-hour meters are often installed when it is relatively difficult to purchase a new card, such as a villa or apartment, so it is particularly problematic when the prepaid card balance runs out. It is.
Then, in order to eliminate such a problem, conventionally, the following method has been considered.

When the balance of the prepaid card decreases to a predetermined value close to zero, a lamp is turned on or a buzzer sounds,
You can encourage the user to prepare a new prepaid card, or you can use a certain amount of power after the balance of the prepaid card becomes zero, and this amount will be used when you insert a new prepaid card Or the prepaid card currently in use and another spare prepaid card so that two prepaid cards can be inserted into the prepaid card watt-hour meter, and the balance of the currently used prepaid card There is a method of switching to a spare prepaid card when is zero.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) In the prepaid card type watt hour meter, in order to solve the problem that power cannot be used when the balance of the prepaid card is exhausted, various methods described above are considered. However, the method of alarming when the balance is running low has a problem that even if an alarm is issued, if the user does not have a new prepaid card, power cannot be used at the same time as the balance runs out.

In addition, the method of using a certain amount of power after the balance becomes zero has a problem that the amount of power that can be used after the balance becomes zero is limited and cannot be used any more. For example, when the user for one prepaid card changes, such as a prepaid card watt-hour meter installed in an apartment or the like, the minus amount used by the previously used user is used by the subsequent user. There is a problem of burdening.

Furthermore, the method of using two prepaid cards is 2
If the remaining amount of the prepaid card is exhausted, there is a problem that electric power cannot be used after all.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object of the present invention is to provide a prepaid card type watt hour meter capable of continuously using power even when the remaining amount of the prepaid card is exhausted. is there.

[Configuration of the invention]

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above problems, a prepaid card type watt-hour meter of the present invention uses electric power by using a prepaid card in which a prepaid amount of money is recorded and reduces the amount of consumed electric power. A prepaid card-type watt-hour meter capable of subtracting a corresponding amount from a prepaid card and using an electric amount corresponding to the amount recorded on the prepaid card, and stores a telephone number and an account number of a financial institution. A telephone line calling means connected to a telephone line and calling a desired telephone subscriber; and a telephone number of the financial institution stored in the prepaid card when the amount remaining in the prepaid card is reduced to a predetermined value. And account number,
The financial institution of this telephone number is read out through the telephone line transmitting means, an access means for accessing the account of the account number of the financial institution, and a predetermined amount is deducted from the account accessed through the access means, The gist of the present invention is to have control means for controlling the newly recorded predetermined amount to be newly recorded as the balance of the prepaid card.

(Operation) In the prepaid card type watt hour meter of the present invention, the telephone number and account number of the financial institution are stored, and when the amount remaining in the prepaid card is reduced to a predetermined value, the stored financial amount is stored. A financial institution is called by the institution's telephone number, an account of the financial institution is accessed, a predetermined amount is debited, and the debited amount is stored as the balance of the prepaid card.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention is described using a drawing.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a prepaid card type watt hour meter according to one embodiment of the present invention. The prepaid card-type watt-hour meter shown in the figure is a watt-hour meter that uses the prepaid card 17 and can be used up to the amount of power corresponding to the amount recorded on the prepaid card 17, and the prepaid card 17 Reading and writing are performed by the card reader / writer unit 15. Further, power is supplied from the service lines via the terminals 1 and 2 and after the power amount is calculated by the power amount calculation unit 11, the power is passed through the breaker 18 and supplied to the home wiring from the terminals 3 and 4. ing. The power amount calculation unit 11 calculates the amount of power used in the house by multiplying the current flowing from the service line side to the inside of the house by the line voltage, and outputs the number of pulses proportional to the amount of used power.

The pulse proportional to the power consumption from the power calculation unit 11 is supplied to the power display unit 12 and the balance calculation unit 13. The power amount display unit 12 counts and integrates the pulses from the power amount calculation unit 11 and displays the result as a power amount. Electric energy display 12
Since it is necessary to store and hold the measured electric energy even at the time of power failure, it is backed up by the power failure compensation battery 121 as shown in the figure. Instead of such a backup method using a battery, a volatile memory or the like may be used for the power amount display unit 12.

The balance calculation unit 13 is supplied with balance information read from the prepaid card 17 by the card reader / writer unit 15 and stores the balance. When the balance calculation unit 13 receives a pulse proportional to the amount of power used supplied from the power amount calculation unit 11, the balance calculation unit 13 collects the amount of money corresponding to the pulse from the stored balance, and balances the result of the collection. Balance display section
Display at 14. Instead of displaying the balance in this way, the available power amount may be displayed, or the remaining power available time obtained by dividing the available power amount by the current power value may be displayed. Further, since the balance display unit 14 records the balance data on the prepaid card 17, it is not necessary to take a countermeasure against power failure as in the power amount display unit 12.

As the electric energy is used, the balance of the prepaid card 17 decreases, the balance of the prepaid card 17 is rewritten by the card reader / writer unit 15, and the balance display unit
The remaining balance indication of 14 will also be reduced. Then, when the balance of the prepaid card 17 decreases to a predetermined value close to zero, the balance calculation unit 13 issues a terminal calling request to the terminal calling unit 16. When the terminal calling unit 16 receives the terminal calling request from the balance calculating unit 13,
Necessary information from the prepaid card 17 through the card reader / writer unit 15, that is, the telephone number of the terminal call destination of the financial institution, the account number for debiting the electricity bill, the predetermined unit amount when the electricity bill is deducted from the account, the card And the remaining balance of the data is read out.

The terminal calling unit 16 is connected to the telephone line via the terminals 5 and 6, and is also connected to the telephone 21, and sends the telephone number of the financial institution read from the prepaid card 17 to the telephone line as described above. And thereby call the financial institution. The terminal calling unit 16 calls a financial institution and, when connected to the financial institution via the telephone line, withdraws a predetermined amount from the account according to the account number of the financial institution. Terminal calling unit 16
After confirming that the predetermined amount has been debited, the debited amount is transferred to the prepaid card 17 via the card reader / writer unit 15 and written on the prepaid card 17 as a new balance. The prepaid card 17 to which the new amount has been added in this way can use power more continuously like the new prepaid card.

In addition, as described above, when there is no deposit in the account of the financial institution called by the terminal calling unit 16, the remaining amount of the prepaid card is not rewritten, so further use electric power,
When the balance of the prepaid card 17 becomes zero, the balance calculation unit 13
Supplies a shut-off signal to the breaker 18, thereby activating the breaker 18 and stopping the supply of power to the house. The breaker 18 also acts when an excessive current flows, similarly to a normal breaker, and stops supplying power to the house.

The power supply unit 19 is a power supply unit that supplies operating power to each unit. The power supply unit 19 extracts power from the service line in front of the power amount calculation unit 11 so as not to burden the customer.

In the above embodiment, the case where only one account is recorded on the prepaid card 17 has been described. However, a plurality of account numbers are recorded instead, and when the deposit of one account is zero, the following is performed. Can be prevented from stopping power supply due to zero deposit.

It is also possible to add an electric leakage sensor for detecting electric leakage to the above-mentioned prepaid card type watt-hour meter, and to make a telephone call to, for example, a safety monitoring sensor when electric leakage occurs. It is desirable that the telephone number of the safety monitoring sensor is not recorded on the prepaid card but is registered in the watt hour meter itself.

Further, a function for returning the balance remaining on the prepaid card to the account when the use of power by the prepaid card watt hour meter is stopped may be provided. This can be arbitrarily performed by the user, for example, by turning on a balance transfer switch.

In addition, a security function for preventing unauthorized use of another person's prepaid card can be added. For example, a numeric keypad is provided in a prepaid card type watt hour meter, and a user inputs a key code with the numeric keypad before using power. Then, when the balance of the prepaid card becomes zero and a call is made to the terminal, the key code is transmitted at the same time as the account number of the financial institution, the financial institution checks the key code, and if the password matches, the account is debited. . With this configuration, account security can be improved. In addition, there is a method of recording the key code on the prepaid card, but it is relatively easy to decrypt the key code from the prepaid card, and once decrypted, it will be used illegally thereafter, It is preferable to input using a numeric keypad or the like.

Further, a charge calculation coefficient setting function for setting a charge per unit electric energy from the center by communication can be provided. In the prepaid card type watt hour meter, since the charge is collected from the card on the spot, the charge calculation formula in the prepaid card type watt hour meter can be rewritten by communication.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the telephone number and account number of the financial institution are stored, and when the amount remaining on the prepaid card is reduced to a predetermined value, the stored financial institution's Calling a financial institution by telephone number, accessing the account of the financial institution, debiting a predetermined amount, and storing the debited amount as the balance of the prepaid card, the remaining amount of the prepaid card has been exhausted. There is no power supply stop, and power supply can always be received stably.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a prepaid card type watt hour meter according to one embodiment of the present invention. 11: Electricity calculation section, 12: Electricity display section, 13: Balance calculation section, 14: Balance display section, 15: Card reader / writer section, 16: Terminal calling section, 17: Prepaid card.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An electric power is used by using a prepaid card in which a prepaid amount is recorded, and an amount corresponding to the amount of consumed electric power is subtracted from the prepaid card to correspond to the amount recorded in the prepaid card. A prepaid card-type watt-hour meter capable of using an electric energy, comprising storage means for storing a telephone number and an account number of a financial institution, and telephone line transmitting means connected to a telephone line and calling a desired telephone subscriber. When the amount remaining in the prepaid card is reduced to a predetermined value, the telephone number and account number of the financial institution are read from the storage means, and the financial institution of this telephone number is called through the telephone line transmitting means. Access means for accessing the account of the account number of the financial institution, and from the account accessed via the access means Debiting the amount of the constant, prepaid card wattmeter, characterized in that a control means for controlling to record new predetermined amounts this deduction as balance of the prepaid card.