JP3399142B2 - Card control system - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a card control system such as an IC card used in a facility such as a ski resort.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventional reading / reading used in facilities
A writable card (such as an IC card) is generally used as follows. The facility user pays the usage fee and the card deposit, buys the card at an automatic card vending machine or a card sales window, and uses the facilities in the facility. When the card is purchased, the card stores the date and time when the card is used, the date and time when the card is used up and the number of times the card can be used. Here, not only the expiration date but also the date and time of start of use are stored because such a card generally not only uses the equipment on the day of use but also, for example, a ski lift has a use during the season.

Each time the user uses the facility, the above card is checked based on the data stored in the card to see if it has been used before the period or has not expired. Then, after using the equipment, when the card is inserted into the card collecting machine at the exit, the quality of the card is judged and the deposit is refunded to the user.

[0004]

However, the conventional IC card control system as described above has the following problems.
That is, in the data storage area of the card, data indicating the type of ticket such as the number of times of use is also stored in addition to the use start and end deadline dates as described above. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a data storage area of such a conventional card.

On the other hand, with the diversification of card usage methods, for example, there is a demand to create a card that can be used only for a specific group, company, facility, etc., and the amount of data stored in the storage area of the card is limited. It has increased. In addition, conventionally, the data for determining whether or not the card was used was not stored in the card, so even for an unused card inserted in the card collection machine, the same as the used card. The deposit was returned.
Therefore, in order not to refund the unused card, it is necessary to add data on whether the card has been used or not.

However, in any of the above cases, since the storage capacity of the card is limited, there is a problem that the conventional method of using the data storage area cannot meet the above requirements. An object of the present invention is to provide a card control system capable of effectively utilizing the storage area of a card while maintaining the conventional data utilization function.

[0007]

A card control system according to a first aspect of the present invention is a card control system for determining whether a card can be used or not based on data stored in a readable / writable card. A date and time data and usage status data indicating whether the card has been used or not, in a date and time data area and a usage status data area, and a read / write means for reading / writing data stored in the card. , When the card usage status data read by the read / write means is not in use, the date and time data written in the date and time data area is determined as the start date of use, and when the card usage status data is in use, the date and time And a control unit that determines the date and time data written in the data area to be the end date of use.

A card control system according to a second aspect of the present invention is the card control system according to the first aspect, wherein the control section is
When the usage status data of the card read by the read / write means is not in use, the date and time data written in the date and time data area is determined to be the usage start date, compared with the current date and time, and the usage start date has passed. In this case, the read / write means rewrites the usage data of the card as used, and also rewrites the usage end date written in the date / time data area.

A card control system according to a third aspect of the present invention is used in a card control system which determines whether a card can be used based on data stored in a readable / writable card and returns a deposit when the card is collected. The date and time data as the start date or the end date of use and the usage status data indicating whether or not the card has been used are stored in the date and time data area and the usage status data area, respectively. Of the date and time data and usage status data indicating whether or not the card has been used, respectively, in a date and time data area and a usage status data area, and a read / write means for reading / writing data stored in the card. If the card usage data read by the read / write means is not in use, the date Judging the date and time data written in the data area as the use start date, comparing it with the current date and time, and if the use start date has passed, a control unit that rewrites the use status data of the card as used by the read / write means, When the card is inserted at the time of card collection, when the card usage status data read by the read / write means is already used, a card collection control unit is provided for carrying out the card collection process and returning the deposit.

A card control system according to a fourth aspect of the present invention determines whether a card can be used based on the data stored in a readable / writable card, and returns a deposit when the card is collected. The card stores the date and time data as the start date or the end date of use and the usage status data indicating whether the card has been used or not in the date and time data area and the usage status data area, respectively, and reads the data stored in the card. / Read / write means to write and when the card is inserted at the time of card collection, when the usage status data of the card read by the read / write means is unused, card collection processing is performed without returning the deposit And a control unit.

[0011]

The data storage area of the card is provided with an area for storing date and time data and usage status data. When the user purchases the card, the use start date and time is stored in the date and time data area and the unused state is stored in the use state data area. When the user uses the card for the first time, that is, when the above-mentioned usage status data is unused, the date and time data area stores the date and time of start of use. Whether or not it is determined and a predetermined process is performed. Then, at this time, the date and time data of the card is rewritten to the use end date and time data.

Further, since the card which has been used once stores the use end date / time data as described above, it is possible to determine whether or not the card is an expired card by this data. Further, during the card collecting process, as described above, the card stores whether or not it has been used. Therefore, the card collecting process is performed when the card is used, and the card returning process is performed when the card is not used.

Therefore, while the conventional card function, that is, the card use start date and time, the use end determination, and the collection function are maintained, the conventional card stores both the use start date and end date and time data. On the other hand, according to the present invention, the storage area of the card which is sufficient for one area is effectively used.

[0014]

1 is a block diagram showing the construction of an embodiment of a card control device according to the present invention. Reference numeral 1 is an IC card (lift ticket) used in a ski lift, and 10 is a gate device or a card collecting machine for reading / writing data in the IC card.

The reader / writer 2 wirelessly reads the data stored in the IC card 1, and based on this data, the current time from the timepiece control unit 4, the judgment data from the memory unit 5, etc., the main control unit 3 Judge whether the card usage conditions are met or not, and open / close the gate flapper (opening / closing door) (when using the gate facility) and refund the deposit (when using the card collection machine).

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a data storage area of the card, which is a main part of the present invention. That is, the data storage area of the card according to the present invention stores date / time data and unused / unused data indicating whether or not the card has been used. The used start / end date / time (FIG. 5) is not stored. In other words, the date of use can be checked only when the card is first used, to check if the card has not been used before the usable date and time, and after that, only the expiration date can be checked. Because it is enough. Instead, the above-mentioned unused / unused data which is not stored in the conventional card is required. Further, at the time of card purchase, data corresponding to the start date of use of the card is written in the storage area of the above date / time data. The data such as the number of times of use is stored as in the conventional card.

3 and 4 are flow charts showing the card processing procedure in the gate facility and the card collecting machine, respectively. The operation of the main part will be described with reference to FIGS.
First, in FIG. 3, when the user having the card in which the data shown in FIG. 2 is stored passes through the gate, the data in the card is checked by the gate device shown in FIG.

That is, in step S11, whether or not the card has been used is determined by the unused / unused data of the card in FIG. 2, and when not used (branch N), the process proceeds to step S12. In step S12, it is determined whether or not the date and time stored in the card of FIG. 2, that is, the card use start date and time stored when the card is purchased exceeds the current date and time, If it is not over, it is before the card availability date, so that is notified and the card is disabled (step S13). If it is over, the card can be used and normal processing is performed (step S1).
4) The date / time data of the card is updated to the date / time corresponding to the expiration date of the card (for example, the date / time of the use start date / time plus the use period) (step S18).

If the card has already been used in step S11 (branch Y), the flow advances to step S15 to determine whether the card has expired. In this case, as described above, in the card that has been used once, since the expiration date of the card is stored in the storage area of the date and time data, the expiration can be determined by this data. When the time limit has expired (branch Y), the card cannot be used is notified (step S16), and if it is within the time limit (step S15 branch N), normal processing is performed.

By the above operation, the expiration date use processing of the equipment such as the gate is performed by the stored data shown in FIG. That is, half the data of the use start / end deadline date / time data (FIG. 5) of the conventional card data storage area is unnecessary, and the storage area can be used as another data storage area. The data area for storing the unused / unused data may be a binary value that is not used or used, and thus the data occupied area may be small.

Next, FIG. 4 shows a procedure when the card having the stored data of FIG. 2 is processed by the card collecting machine. When the user inserts the card into the card collection machine,
Whether the card has been used or not is determined by the card data (step S21), and if the card has been used (branch Y), a collection process is performed (step S23), and a deposit refund process is performed (step S24). However, if the card is not used (branch N in step S21), the deposit is not refunded and the process ends.

By the above operation, the card collecting process is performed in the same manner as the conventional one based on the stored data shown in FIG.
Furthermore, in the past, refund processing was performed without determining whether or not the card has been used, but according to the present invention, it is possible to determine whether or not the card has been used, so the refund processing can be performed on unused cards. You can not do it.

[0023]

According to the present invention, the use start date and time is checked after it is determined whether or not the card has been used, that is, only when the first card is used. While maintaining the function of discriminating the end date and time, a part of the data storage area of the conventional card can be allocated for another data storage. Therefore,
The limited data storage area can be effectively used.

Further, since it can be determined whether the card has been used or not based on the card usage status data, it is possible to carry out the deposit return processing for the used card and not the refund processing for the unused card.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram showing an embodiment of a card control system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a data storage area of a card according to the invention of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a card processing procedure of gate equipment based on the invention of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a card processing procedure of the card collecting machine based on the invention of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a data storage area of a conventional card.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Lift ticket, 2 ... Reader / writer, 3 ... Main control unit, 4 ...
Clock control unit, 5 ... memory unit, 6 ... flapper unit, 7 ... recovery unit.

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. In a card control system for determining the availability of a card based on data stored in a readable / writable card, whether date and time data as a use start date or a use end date and whether the card has been used or not Card that stores the usage status data indicating the data in the date and time data area and the usage status data area, a read / write unit that reads / writes the data stored in the card, and the use of the card read by the read / write unit. When the status data is not used, the date and time data written in the date and time data area is determined to be the start date, and when the card usage status data is used, the date and time data written in the date and time data area is used. A card control system, comprising: 2. The card control system according to claim 1, wherein the control unit starts using the date and time data written in the date and time data area when the use state data of the card read by the read / write means is unused. If it is judged that the date is the day, it is compared with the current date and time, and if it is past the use start date, the card usage status data is rewritten by the read / write means and the end date written in the date and time data area is rewritten. Card control system characterized by. 3. Stored on a readable / writable card
If you decide whether to use the card based on the data
However, if the card is collected, the deposit will be returned.
In the card control system, a card that stores date and time data as a use start date or a use end date and use state data indicating whether or not the card has been used in a date and time data area and a use state data area, respectively. If the read / write means for reading / writing the data stored in and the usage status data of the card read by the read / write means are not in use, the date / time data written in the date / time data area is determined as the use start date. , Compared with the current date and time, if the usage start date has passed, the control unit that rewrites the usage status data of the card as used by the read / write means and the read / write means when the card is inserted when the card is collected. When the usage status data of the registered card has been used, the card recovery process will be performed and the deposit will be returned. Card control system characterized by comprising a de recovery controller. 4. Stored on a readable / writable card
If you decide whether to use the card based on the data
However, if the card is collected, the deposit will be returned.
In the card control system, a card that stores date and time data as a use start date or a use end date and use state data indicating whether or not the card has been used in a date and time data area and a use state data area, respectively. Read / write means for reading / writing data stored in the card, and when the card is inserted at the time of card collection and the usage status data of the card read by the read / write means is unused , the card is not returned with a deposit. A card control system comprising: a card collection control unit that performs a return process.