JPS604508B2 - Ticket printing and issuing device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an improvement in an automatic ticket vending machine using a thermal printing method.

In recent years, automatic ticket vending machines have come into widespread use due to labor-saving efforts in class operations.

Conventional automatic ticket vending machines used a mechanical printing device that uses a stamp board, etc., but with this mechanical printing method, when fare revisions, etc., the stamp board is printed on each machine. There is the inconvenient situation of having to replace it. Furthermore, a significant disadvantage is that the customer who receives the ticket gets his or her hands stained with printing ink. For this reason, recent automatic ticket vending machines use thermal paper to print thermally.
The use of thermal printing methods is being considered. It is true that the above problems can be solved by using this thermal printing method, but the following new problems arise.

That is, since the thermal printing method utilizes a thermal phenomenon between the paper and the thermal head, it requires a certain amount of time to heat up the paper. However, the fact that a considerable amount of reaction time is required makes it impossible to shorten the ticket issuing time, which goes against the current situation where there is a recent demand for shortening the ticket issuing time. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to provide an economical automatic ticket vending machine that can shorten ticket issuing processing time despite using a thermal printing method. It is in. Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

Reference numeral 1 in FIG. 1 indicates a thermal printing section of an automatic ticket vending machine, and a belt-shaped paper 3 made of heat-sensitive ants is conveyed to this thermal printing section 1 by a conveyance path 2. . The paper 3 is wound into a roll in a paper feed section 4. The conveyance path 2 is made up of conveyance rollers 5, guide plates 6, etc., and is adapted to feed out and convey the paper 3 according to the required amount. Further, the thermal printing section 1 is provided with a thermal head 7 so as to face the transport surface of the transport path 2 .

The thermal head 7 is provided with a plurality of heating element elements 8 that individually operate to generate heat, and each heating element 8 is perpendicular to the running direction of the paper 3. They are arranged in the same direction. Therefore, each heating element 8...
. . . are instantaneously driven to generate heat according to print data by a drive control unit as will be described later, and heat printing is performed on the traveling paper 3. Note that the rollers 9 and 1 are copy unit rollers that receive the paper 3 in the thermal printing unit 1 and convey the paper 3.

A cutter 1 for cutting the paper 3 into the length of the ticket paper A is provided in front of the thermal printing section 1.

Furthermore, a detector 12 for detecting a phenomenon in which the paper ticket A rips is provided in the middle of the conveyance path 2 ahead of the thermal EO printing unit 1. On the other hand, Fig. 4 shows the surface of the printed ticket sheet A. Item 13, which is commonly defined for each ticket sheet A, is printed on half of the ticket surface, and the remaining portion of the ticket sheet has each item 13 printed on it. Individual items 14 determined for each ticket sheet A are printed. Next, the printing operation of the above-mentioned component apparatus will be explained based on the flowchart of FIG.

First, a station staff places a roll of paper 3 into the paper feed section 4 of an automatic ticket vending machine.
Load. After completing the loading operation of the paper 3, a start signal for paper feeding is sent to confirm whether the loading operation has been carried out correctly, and the paper 3 is fed out from the paper feed section 4. That is, the paper 3 is fed out by the conveyance path 2 and continues to be fed out until it reaches a length corresponding to the portion of the predetermined ticket A on which different items 14 are to be printed. When the predetermined length has been reached, the cutter 11 is also activated and the leading end of the paper 3 is cut into the predetermined length of the ticket A. and,
The detector 12 confirms whether the issued ticket A is jammed or not, and further confirms whether the ticket A has been ejected from the machine. If the paper ticket A becomes jammed, an error message such as "Error" or "Sale Cancellation" is displayed, and corresponding processing is performed. When the paper is issued normally, the leading edge of the paper 3 stops in the state shown in FIG. 1, that is, in front of the heating elements 8 of the thermal head 7.

Thereafter, the transfer of the paper 3 is started, and the thermal printing section 1 is operated by the control section, so that items 13 common to each ticket sheet A are printed on the front half of the ticket surface of the ticket sheet A. Note that this printing method uses a plurality of heating element elements 8 that individually generate heat to print on the surface of the paper 3 that is being transported, outside of the print data of the control unit. A counter corresponding to the item 13 is provided, and this counter transfers print data and repeats printing until printing of the common item 13 is completed. In this way, paper 3
A common item 13 is printed at the leading end of the image.
When this printing is completed, the paper 3 is stopped in the state shown in FIG. 2, and a final check of the printing is performed. This completes the preparation for ticket issuance and waits for the user to use it. Next, the operation when used by a user will be explained.

First, when the user inserts a coin, this is checked and the destination selection button is also checked. Then, the amount of coins inserted is compared with the fare at the destination, and if the condition is satisfied that the ticket can be issued, the transfer of the paper 3 is started, and the thermal printing section 1 starts thermal printing operation, and each Different items 14 are printed depending on the ticket paper A.
In this case, the printing data of item 14 is transferred by the counter and checked, which is the same as in the printing operation described above. Finally, it is confirmed that the ticket A is not jammed and has been ejected from the machine. If the paper is issued normally, the cutter 11 is operated again upon receiving the confirmation signal, and after cutting the paper 3 to the length of the ticket paper A, the paper 3 is transported and the thermal printing unit 1 is operated in the same manner as described above. This operation is performed to print common item 13.
Since the next use is usually not carried out, the machine stops at the position shown in FIG. 2 and waits until the next use. That is,
The common item 13 is printed in advance on the first half of the ticket A, and the ticket is kept on standby until the next user uses it. Also,
The common item 13 is printed using the waiting time. Therefore, when using an automatic ticket vending machine, the user usually has enough time to take out the ticket A, take out the change, or change places between the previous user and the next user. absorbs the above-mentioned waiting time, giving the user the impression that the issuance time is shortened. As explained above, in the present invention, the printing operation of common items is continuously performed on the leading edge side of the face of the next ticket to be issued in response to the completion of the previous ticket issuing operation. Printing the common items can save time that would otherwise be unavoidable during use, such as taking out tickets, taking out change, or changing users.

Therefore, since printing of common items is completed before the next usage operation, the user's waiting time can be substantially shortened. In addition, because common items are printed in advance,
When issuing a ticket, the common items are printed on a separate thermal head.Unlike those that print different items on each ticket at the same time, there is no need for mutual adjustment between the thermal heads. It is economical because it does not need to be installed. In addition, since a strip of paper is cut into the ticket size and then EO printing of the items is performed on the paper, unlike the case where the paper is cut into the ticket size after printing, the process is stopped midway for cutting. There's no need.

Therefore, in this type of ticket vending machine which performs, for example, a magnetic encoding process continuously in the printing process, the sequence of the printing process and the magnetic encoding process can be easily and accurately controlled. In addition, because the strip of paper is cut into the size of the ticket before printing, even if the strip of paper is pulled from the paper feed unit by its own weight while waiting for printing, it will not reach the next paper to be printed. has no effect. In other words, the paper to be printed next can be kept waiting at the normal position. Therefore, it is possible to reliably print within the necessary minimum length without preparing an extra length of ticket paper, and paper can be used economically.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the printing section, FIGS. 2 and 3 are block diagrams showing different operating states, and FIG. 4 is a front view of the ticket paper. , FIG. 5 is a flowchart thereof. A...Ticket paper, 1...Thermal printing department,
2...Conveyance path, 3...Paper, 4...
-Paper feed section, 7...Thermal head, 8...Heating element, 13...Common item, 14...Different item. Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A cutter that cuts a strip of paper into the size of a ticket, and a thermal printing section that heat-sensitively prints predetermined items on the paper from the direction of travel while transporting the paper that has been cut in advance with this cutter. In preparation, in response to the completion of the previous ticket issuing operation, the paper for the next ticket to be issued is transferred and cut into the size of the ticket using the above-mentioned cutter. Print out the
A ticket printing/issuing device characterized in that the next time the ticket is issued, individual items are printed on the remaining ticket surface and the ticket is issued.