JPH039508B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Table of Contents] Overview Industrial Application Fields Prior Art (Figures 10, 11, 12, and 13) Problems to be Solved by the Invention Means for Solving the Problems (Fig. 1) Effect Example (a) Description of the ticket issuing device to which the invention is applied (Figs. 2, 3, and 4) (b) Description of the internal configuration of the ticket issuing device (Figs. 5, 4) (Figure 6) (c) Explanation of ticket issuing method (Figures 7, 8, 9)
Figure) (d) Description of another embodiment Effect of the invention [Summary] In a ticket issuing method for issuing a series of tickets of multiple types, printing items are extracted from given unedited ticket issuing data, and a series of tickets to be issued is extracted from the given unedited ticket issuing data. By providing a ticket issue editing step for editing the print format of each ticket, a series of ticket groups can be issued from unedited ticket issue data.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to a ticketing method for issuing a series of multiple types of reservation tickets such as travel coupons, and in particular to a method for printing each ticket even if the printing data for ticketing is given unedited. Regarding possible ticketing methods.

A series of multiple types of ticket groups are widely used as travel coupons for travel and the like.

Such ticket groups generally consist of multiple reservation tickets, etc., in which the customer makes a reservation for transportation, lodging, facilities, etc. in advance, and is issued by a travel agency in response to the reservation. passed to.

Ticket issuing devices are used to issue these groups of tickets, and in recent years, devices have been provided that use card-shaped tickets and issue various reservation tickets according to reservation details as a series of ticket groups.

[Conventional technology]

For example, when traveling by airplane, an airline ticket issuing device is used to print the necessary information on card-like tickets and print itineraries, agent coupons, fare coupons, and the necessary airline tickets. We will issue five types of customer receipt tickets. For example, for a reservation for a travel route from Sapporo to Tokyo, going to Okinawa, and returning to Sapporo again, the reserved itinerary in Figure 10A (breath, flights used, accommodations used, facilities used)
The itinerary sheet printed with Okinawa, Okinawa-Haneda, Haneda-Sapporo 4
) and the customer receipt shown in Figure 12 are issued, and these are handed to the customer as a bound set of travel coupons.

This method of printing and issuing individual tickets one after another is different from the method of printing and issuing various tickets at the same time on sheets of carbon paper that are bound in advance, while Printing can be done in a free and easy-to-read format, making it possible to issue a variety of flexible tickets.

To print and issue such individual tickets,
Because the printed content of each ticket is different, conventionally the 13th
As shown in the figure, the host computer HOST that constitutes the reservation system edits the print items of each ticket into the print format of each ticket using an editing program, and sends the edited print data of each ticket to the ticket issuing device TDU. The ticket issuing device TDU simply prints the edited print data of each ticket on an individual ticket and issues each ticket constituting a series of tickets below the travel list.

That is, in the conventional method, the ticket issuing device TDU only had a ticket issuing control function of simply receiving edited print data and printing it on individual tickets.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, in the conventional technology, since the ticket issuing device only has a ticket issuing control function, it is necessary to create print data for each ticket in a series of tickets from the host computer HOST and transmit it to the ticket issuing device. For this reason, there is a problem that a large amount of printing data for each ticket in a series of tickets is required, and the time it takes to use the line to transmit it becomes long, increasing the cost of using the line. When a large-scale reservation system is configured, a situation arises in which line usage charges become extremely large.

The present invention reduces the line usage time required for transmitting ticketing data from the host by editing unedited ticketing data from a host computer into print data for each ticket in a series of tickets in a device and issuing tickets. The purpose is to provide a ticket issuing method that can be shortened.

[Means to solve the problem]

FIG. 1 is a diagram explaining the principle of the present invention.

The present invention includes a ticket issuing control section that controls ticket issuing by giving print data to a printing section that prints on tickets being conveyed;
It has a ticketing editing section that edits unedited ticketing data received via a line from a host computer (hereinafter also referred to as host) into print data for each ticket to be issued, based on ticketing data given from the outside. A ticketing device that prints on tickets and issues a series of ticket groups consisting of multiple types of tickets, the ticketing editing section storing the received unedited ticketing data in a memory; A ticket issuance order table that stores ticket issuance order information for each ticket in a group of tickets is
a step of referring to the ticketing order designation information included in the unfinished edited ticketing data in the memory to obtain corresponding ticketing order information; a step of referring to the ping table with the ticket issuing order information and obtaining the printing items and printing positions of each ticket to be issued;
The print item storage destination specification table that stores the storage location of the print data corresponding to the print item to be printed in the memory is referred to in the print item, the storage location of the corresponding print data in the memory is determined, and the print data is stored in the memory. The method includes a step of creating print editing data for each ticket by obtaining print data from the ticket.

[Effect]

In the present invention, the ticket issuing device is provided with a ticket editing step to create a series of edited data for each ticket from unedited ticket issuing data, so that the host only needs to transmit the unedited ticket issuing data.

The items printed on each ticket are not completely different from each other and include many common items, so the time required to send the unedited ticketing data is the same as the time required to send the edited data for each ticket. It can be much shorter than .

That is, redundancy in data transmitted to the line is removed, and line usage costs can be significantly reduced.

Also, ticketing order table, mapping table,
Since the printing item storage destination designation table is used for editing, editing data for each ticket according to the ticket issuing order can be created simply by referring to the table.

〔Example〕

(a) Description of a ticket issuing device applied to an embodiment of the present invention Figs. 2 and 3 are block diagrams of a ticket issuing device applied to an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 4 is a configuration diagram of a ticket issuing device applied to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG.

In the figure, 3a and 3b are ticket storage boxes for storing unprinted tickets, and 4 is a ticket;
As shown in the figure, there is a printing column 4a on the front side (the number of printing digits is 72 in the figure).
19 lines (digits, number of printed lines A to S), and a magnetic stripe 4b on the back side as shown in Fig. 4B. A device that feeds out tickets 4 one by one from the storage box 3a or 3b and transports them to a discharge port; 6 is a write/read head that writes data on the magnetic stripe 4b of the tickets 4 transported by the ticket transport section 5; 7 is a printer, which prints on the printing field 4a of the ticket 4 conveyed by the ticket conveyance section 5; 8 is a ticket storage section, which is provided in the discharge section and prints the ticket printed by the printer 7; 8a is an external storage box that can be opened manually in the direction of the arrow to make it easy to take out printed tickets. By providing the dispensing section instead of the ticket storage section 8, a large amount of printed bills can be stored.

Therefore, in this ticket issuing device TDU, the ticket with the magnetic stripe 4b on the back side is stored in the ticket storage box 3a,
3b, and the ticket transport section 5 transfers the ticket to the ticket storage box 3.
A and 3b feed out the ticket 4, and while the ticket 4 is being conveyed, the head 6 writes data on the magnetic stripe 4b of the ticket 4, the printer 7 prints on the printing column 4a of the ticket 4, and the ticket 4 is discharged at the discharge section. The dispensing section is provided with a ticket storage section 8 or an external storage box 8a, and the dispensing tickets are stored in these.

(b) Description of the internal configuration of the ticket issuing device according to one embodiment FIG. 5 is an internal configuration diagram of the ticket issuing device used in one embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, the same parts as those shown in Figures 1 and 2 are indicated by the same symbols, and 9 is a lamp display section, which is used to indicate the cause of the failure during ticket issuing operation or during failure. What is lit is a microprocessor (hereinafter referred to as MPU) 10, which analyzes the received message and creates editing data for each ticket by executing a program, and 11 is for the basic program.
A ROM (hereinafter referred to as ROM) stores basic programs necessary for processing by the MPU 10, and 12 is a work area RAM (hereinafter referred to as RAM) in which contents processed by the MPU 10 are stored. 13 is RAM for saving messages (hereinafter referred to as message
14 is a table ROM cartridge (hereinafter referred to as table ROM), which is composed of ROM cartridges and is necessary for creating editing data. 14a is a print item storage destination specification table (hereinafter referred to as the item specification table), which stores a table such as the above, and a message RAM 1 that temporarily stores the print items in the received message.
14b is a ticket issuing order table, which is a table for specifying the issuing order of a group of tickets; 14c is a mapping table, which is a table for specifying printing items and printing positions for each ticket, which will be described later in FIG. 6C,
15 is a connector for connecting the table ROM cartridge 14; 16 is a transmission control unit for controlling transmission for exchanging messages with the host computer HOST; 17 is a bus, which connects the MPU 10 and the ROM 11; RAM12, telegram
It connects the RAM 13, connector 15, and transmission control section 16.

20 is a microprocessor (hereinafter referred to as MPU)
21 is a ROM which stores a mechanical control program and basic character patterns necessary for ticketing control of the MPU 20; 22 is a communication RAM; 23 is a DMA control unit that functions as a buffer for data communication between the MPU 20 and the MPU 10 of the ticketing editorial department 1 through DMA (direct memory access) control, and data is transferred through direct memory access. 24 is a RAM used as a work area for the MPU 20, 25 is an evacuation RAM for saving data, and 26 is an I/O
This is a control driver that controls the ticket transport section 5, printer 7, heads 6a, 6b, and lamp display section 9 according to instructions from the MPU 20, and 27 is a bus that connects the MPU 20, ROM 21, RAM 22, 24,
25, the DMA control unit 23, and the I/O control driver.

Figure 6 shows ROM cartridge 1 in Figure 5.
4 is a configuration diagram of each table 14a, 14b, 14c of FIG.

The item specification table 14a includes the item ID and message assigned to each print item as shown in FIG. 6A.
It consists of a correspondence table between the maximum data length on RAM 13 and the storage start address, and the data length and storage start address of fixed print items such as "airline ticket", "agent coupon", "fare coupon", etc. Street address and “customer name”,
"Ticketing airline name", "Travel agency name", "Flight number"
The data length and storage start address of the received print item are described.

Further, the ticket issuing order table 14b is for specifying the type and order of tickets to be issued in accordance with the ticket issuing order specification codes F1 to F8 included in the received message.For example, the ticket issuing present invention specification code F1 , it is specified that five tickets, passenger receipt, airline ticket 4, airline ticket 3, airline ticket 2, and airline ticket 1, are to be issued in this order. In this example, it is specified that tickets are to be issued in order from the last page to the previous page of a booklet consisting of a group of tickets. Furthermore, the pine pick table 14c is
A description of the ID of the item to be printed in each line A to S (see Figure 4) of the printing column of ticket 4 in various tickets (airline tickets, itineraries, agent coupons, etc.) and the printing start digit. This makes it possible to know the printing items and printing positions corresponding to the ticket to be issued. That is, in the ticketing editing section 1, the MPU 10 creates print editing data for each ticket from the received message using each table 14a to 14c of the table ROM cartridge 14, and in the ticketing control section 2,
The ticket issue is controlled based on the created print editing data, and printing and magnetic stripes are written on the ticket.

This table ROM cartridge 14 is removable via a connector 15, and can be attached to various tables depending on the printing format and ticket issuing order.
It is configured so that it can be replaced with a ROM cartridge.

(c) Description of one embodiment of ticket issuing method FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of the format of ticket issuing data (received message) in one embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 7, four blocks of data are transmitted from the host computer HOST.

The first block includes the start code followed by the common information such as the ticket issue order designation code, the number of passengers, the number of routes issued, the number of data blocks, and the date of issue, as well as the airline company, agency, and ticket number. are divided by headers.

The second block contains the passenger number, which is passenger information.
Includes passenger name, fare, seat, and precautions.

The third block contains flight route information such as flight date, airline name, flight number, departure place, departure time, arrival place, arrival time, boarding type (first class, etc.) for each flight. Included accordingly.

The fourth block includes information on hotels, rental cars, etc. and an end code as other reservation information.

Among these, the items to be printed are other than the ticket issue order designation code, number of data blocks, header, start code, and end code.
are associated.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of ticketing processing according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of the buffering operation in FIG. 8.

The MPU 10 is in a state of waiting for a data interrupt from the transmission control unit 16, and when the transmission control unit 16 receives a received message from the host computer HOST, it issues a data interrupt to the MPU 10.

The MPU 10 receives the received block from the transmission control section 16, analyzes it, and stores the ticket issue order designation code in the RAM 12 first.

Next, each print item is stored in the designated address of the message RAM 13 according to the contents of the print item storage table 14a of the ROM cartridge 14.

As shown in FIG. 9, the above-mentioned fixed print items are stored in advance in the head area of the message RAM 13 as character codes, and the MPU 10 selects each print item of the reception block according to the specification table 14a.
It is stored in the specified address of the message RAM 13 corresponding to the ID. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 7, the ticket number corresponds to item ID (n+5), and by referring to the specification table 14a, the first storage address "yyyy",
The maximum data length "xx" is obtained, and the ticket number of the reception block is buffered to the starting address "yyyy" of the message RAM 13.

The MPU 10 executes this for each print item of the reception block, and therefore the message RAM 13 stores each print item of the reception block in the specified table 1.
It is stored at the address specified in 4a.

Next, the MPU 10 reads the ticket issuing order designation code stored in the RAM 12 and refers to the ticket issuing order table 14b of the ROM cartridge 14.

For example, if the ticketing order designation code is F5, the passenger receipt, ticket 1, 2, 3, 4, fare coupon, agent coupon, and itinerary shown in Figures 10 to 12 should be issued. and the ticket issue order are obtained from the ticket issue order table 14b.

The MPU 10 refers to the mapping table 14c of the ROM cartridge 14 to determine the print format of each ticket to be issued next.

For example, for passenger receipt, mapping table 1
Refer to the passenger receipt column for ticket type 4c and find the print start line and item ID for each line. And the items obtained
Obtain the storage address of the message RAM 13 by referring to the storage destination specification table 14a from the ID, and
The corresponding print item is taken out from RAM13.

The MPU 10 repeats this process according to the contents of the mapping table 14c, stores the print start line and print item of each line of the passenger receipt in the RAM 12, and edits the print data.

When the print data is edited in this way,
The MPU10 connects to the MPU20 via the communication RAM22.
It notifies the user that the editing has been completed, and further transmits the information-completed print data in the RAM 12 to the communication RAM 22.

In the MPU 20, the edited print data stored in the communication RAM 22 by the DMA control unit 23 is transferred to the save RAM 25 and stored therein.

Next, the MPU 20 uses the I/O control driver 26
The ticket conveyance section 5 is operated by the operator, and the ticket 4 is fed out from the ticket storage box shown in FIG. 2 and conveyed.

The MPU 20 extracts only the print items from the print data of one ticket stored in the above-mentioned save RAM 25, supplies them to the write head 6a via the I/O control driver 26, and prints them on the magnetic stripe 4b of the ticket 4 being conveyed. The desired print item is written, read by the reading head 6b, and the write operation is checked by read-after-write.

Next, the MPU 20 transfers the print items of the print data of one ticket stored in the save RAM 25 to the ROM 2.
1 is converted into a character pattern based on the basic character pattern 1, and the character pattern is developed in the RAM 24 for each print line according to the above-mentioned print start digit.
Then, the print pattern of each print line is given to the printer 7 via the I/O control driver 26, and printed in the print column 4a of the ticket 4.

Then, the printed ticket is ejected to the ejecting section and the process returns to the step. MPU20 repeats this for the number of tickets created by MPU10, and thereby
As explained in the figure, passenger receipt, ticket 4, 3,
2.1. Coupons for fees, coupons for agents,
Tickets will be issued in the order of the itinerary.

At this time, tickets are issued in order from the back page of a group of tickets to the front page, so when a group of tickets is taken out from the ticket storage section 8 (see Figure 2), the printing field of the previous page becomes the first, and the printed field of the previous page is printed in order. There is no need to adjust it.

The same applies when the external storage box 8a is attached as shown in FIG.

Further, if the magnetic stripe 4b of the ticket 4 is, for example, an airline ticket, check-in data can be automatically input by reading it with a magnetic stripe reader.

(d) Description of other embodiments In the above-described embodiments, the explanation was given using an airline ticket issuing device as an example, but the present invention can also be applied to other ticket issuing devices, reservation ticket issuing devices, etc.

In addition, although the table for editing is made into a ROM cartridge so that it can be replaced freely, it may also be made up of other well-known memory cartridges such as a magnetic bubble cartridge. It may be composed of

Although the present invention has been described above with reference to examples, the present invention can be modified in various ways according to the gist of the present invention.
These are not excluded from the present invention.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, when issuing multiple types of tickets, an editing step is provided for editing the printing format of each ticket from the unedited ticket issuing data given by the ticket issuing device. There is no need to send data edited in a print format through a line, and it is sufficient to send unedited data including printing items necessary for a group of tickets, so that the cost of using the line can be reduced.

Further, the load on the host computer is reduced, and other processes such as reservations can be executed at high speed.

Furthermore, since editing is performed using the ticket issue order table, mapping table, and print item storage specification table, editing data for each ticket according to the ticket issue order can be created simply by referring to the table. It is also effective.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram explaining the principle of the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 3 are block diagrams of a ticket issuing device applied to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a diagram of a ticket issuing device used in an embodiment of the present invention. Explanatory diagram, FIG. 5 is an internal configuration diagram of a ticket issuing device applied to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 6 is a table configuration diagram in the configuration shown in FIG. 5, and FIG. 7 is a received message format of an embodiment of the present invention. An explanatory diagram, FIG. 8 is a flowchart of ticket issuing processing according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of the buffering operation in FIG. 8, FIG.
1 and 12 are explanatory diagrams of issued tickets, and FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of the prior art. In the figure, TDU...ticketing device, 1...ticketing editorial department, 2
...Ticket issuing control unit, 4...Ticket, 7...Printer.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A ticketing control unit that controls ticketing by giving print data to a printing unit that prints on tickets to be conveyed, and a series of tickets to be issued based on unedited ticketing data received from a host via a line. a ticketing editing unit that edits the printing data of the ticket issuing device, the ticket issuing device prints on the ticket based on the ticket issuing data given from the outside and issues a series of ticket groups consisting of multiple types of tickets, the ticket issuing device a step in which the editing section stores the received unedited ticketing data in the memory; and the ticketing editing section stores the ticketing order table storing the ticketing order information of each ticket of the series of tickets in the memory. a step of obtaining the corresponding ticketing order information by referring to the ticketing order designation information included in the data; and a step in which the ticketing editorial department converts the mapping table storing the printing items and printing positions of multiple types of tickets to the ticketing order information. step of referring to the print item and print position of each ticket to be issued, and specifying a print item storage location where the print data corresponding to the print item to be printed by the ticket issuing editorial department is stored in the memory. Refer to the table with the corresponding print item,
By determining the storage location of the corresponding print data on the memory and obtaining the print data from the memory,
A ticket issuing method comprising the step of creating print editing data for each ticket.