JP3395486B2 - vending machine - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vending machine for issuing a prepaid card (hereinafter referred to as a vending machine). 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, vending machines that sell prepaid cards sell cards in which the amount of use is stored (encoded) in advance by a card issuing company, such as a 500 yen card or a 1000 yen card. I have. There are also vending machines that encode and sell a predetermined amount of money when a user of the card vending machine inserts money. [0003] The conventional card vending machine has the following problems. First, as described above, cards with a usage amount other than the card usage amount cannot be issued. So, for example, only for a specific period of time, or only for a specific user,
In order to issue a card of an arbitrary usage amount, the card administrator of the vending machine had to request the card issuing company to encode. However, this procedure was troublesome when the number of cards was small. [0004] Next, when a beverage is purchased at a beverage vending machine using a prepaid card, for example, when the card is jammed due to a failure of the machine or the magnetic unit storing the amount data is damaged, the card still has a remaining amount. But that card is no longer usable. This is because the damaged card cannot be immediately re-encoded by the vending machine. In addition, if the card administrator can encode the usage amount to any amount,
This is a problem because a card exceeding the initial issue amount may be issued. An object of the present invention is to enable a card vending machine to easily re-encode a usage amount. [0006] A vending machine according to the present invention is a vending machine for issuing a prepaid card.
A writing unit; an input unit for inputting a usage amount of the card; and a control unit for instructing the card reading / writing unit to write the usage amount input by the input unit on the card. If the amount is equal to or less than the card initial issue amount read by the card reading / writing unit, the control unit instructs the card reading / writing unit to re-encode the usage amount input by the input unit to the card. By doing so, the used amount of the issued prepaid card is re-encoded into the amount by the input means, and issuance of a card with an excessive amount of use exceeding the initial issued amount is prevented. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. Reference numeral 1 denotes a main control unit of the vending machine, which comprises a CPU 2, a ROM 3, a RAM 4, and a clock 5. The following devices are connected to the main control unit 1. Card reader / writer 6 for reading / writing data on prepaid cards, card mech 7 for inserting / transporting / returning cards, keyboard 8 for inputting the amount of card used, digital display 9 for displaying keyboard input, insertion of money And a coin mech 10 for processing change and a vending machine mechanism 11 for controlling a vending machine as a normal vending machine. FIG. 2 is an example of a message when the card reader / writer 6 reads data stored in the magnetic part of the prepaid card. The initial issue amount, usage balance, and the like stored at the time of initial issue of the card are read. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the main operation of the present invention. Figures 1 and 2
The operation will be described with reference to FIG. First, a card manager of a vending machine prepares a prepaid card to be re-encoded. Vending machine card reader / writer 6 waiting for insertion of this card
(Step S1, branch Y), the data is read in the magnetic data format shown in FIG. 2 (step S2). It is determined whether or not the card is usable (step S3). If the card is not usable (branch N), the card is ejected (step S10) and the process ends. When the card can be used (branch Y), the initial issue amount of the card is read and stored in the RAM 4 of the main control unit 1 (step S).
4). Next, collation of the recitation number of the card is performed (step S5).
Enter the amount to be re-encoded from (Step S
6). The amount entered from the keyboard 8 and the step S
In step 4, the amount is compared with the initial issue amount stored in the RAM 4 (step S7). If the input amount is equal to or less than the initial issue amount (branch Y), the amount is written to the card via the card reader / writer 6 (step S8). . After confirming whether or not the writing has been performed normally (step S9), the card is ejected (step S10), and the process is terminated. With the above operation, the card vending machine can easily re-encode the usage amount. According to the present invention, the amount of money input by the input means such as the keyboard is written on the card by the card reading / writing means such as a card reader / writer. The usage amount of the card is re-encoded into the amount by the input means. Therefore, a small number of cards can be issued quickly for a specific purpose and the card can be repaired immediately even if the card is damaged. [0015] If the encoding can be performed only when the amount to be re-encoded is equal to or less than the initial issue amount, it is possible to prevent the issuance of a card having an excessive amount of use exceeding the initial issue amount. Further, if the device according to the present invention is incorporated in a normal vending machine for selling goods, the card can be repaired immediately even when the card is damaged by the user. In addition, since ordinary vending machines and parts can be used, it can be manufactured at low cost.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of card data; FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation based on the invention of FIG. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Main control unit, 2 ... CPU, 3 ... ROM, 4 ... RAM,
5 clock, 6 card reader / writer, 7 card mech, 8 keyboard, 9 digital display, 10 coin mech, 11 vending machine mechanism.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] [Claim 1] In a vending machine for issuing a prepaid card, card reading / writing means for reading / writing card data, input means for inputting a card usage amount, and input means And a control unit for instructing the card reading / writing means to write the usage amount input by the card reading / writing means into the card, wherein the amount input by the input means is the card initial issue amount read by the card reading / writing means. In the following case, the vending machine is characterized in that the control unit instructs the card reading / writing means to re-encode the usage amount input by the input means on the card.