JPH0814862B2 - Value card processor - Google Patents

Description

Description: FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a value card processing apparatus suitable for a premium value card.

<< Summary of the Invention >> In the present invention, a certain premium value is given to the remaining value balance only when the number of times the card has been used reaches a prescribed number.

Further, particularly in the present invention, when a premium value is given to the value card, the total value remaining amount of the card is divided into a normal value remaining amount and a premium value remaining amount so that they can be visually confirmed separately.

<< Prior art and its problems >> Recently, various value cards such as telephone cards are gradually becoming popular. When a premium value is added to such a value card, inconvenience arises if a method of issuing a 11-sheet spliced ticket from the beginning at a 10-sheet spelling fee, such as a bus coupon.

In other words, the provision of this kind of premium value is originally intended to use a predetermined facility or the like a specified number of times or more, and it is necessary to consider not to give a premium value if the specified number of times is not reached. Is.

However, in the case of a value card that does not limit how many times the value can be divided and consumed, if the premium value is given from the beginning, the total value can be consumed in one extreme case. , It will be contrary to the premium provision conditions.

Further, in this type of device, the value balance of the value card is recorded as the magnetic balance information and also as the punching information. If the magnetic balance information and the punching balance information do not match, the device may malfunction.

However, if you give a premium value to the value card, the value balance also includes the premium value balance.
In this case, there is a problem that the magnetic balance information and the punching balance information are likely to be inconsistent with each other, and the device is likely to malfunction.

<< Object of the Invention >> An object of the present invention is to make it possible to reliably manage the conditions of premium giving when a premium is given to this type of value card, and also to prevent malfunction of the device. Especially.

Another object of the present invention is to, when a premium is given to a value card, divide the total value remaining amount of the value card into a normal value remaining amount and a premium value remaining amount so that they can be visually confirmed separately.

<< Structure of the Invention >> In order to achieve the above object, the first invention is a reading means for reading the remaining value and the number of times the card has been used from the value card that has been inserted; As a premium giving means for giving a certain premium value; a settlement means for performing a reduction process according to the consumption value with the sum of the normal value balance and the premium value balance as the total value balance of the card; The total value balance is divided into a regular value balance and a premium value balance, and a writing means for writing the visible value and the invisible information on the value card doubly is provided.

The second invention is a reading means for reading the remaining value and the number of times the card has been used from the value card that has been inserted; a premium that imparts a certain premium value, provided that the number of times the card has been read matches the specified number of times. Means for granting; total value balance of normal value balance and premium value balance as total value balance of the card, and payment means for performing reduction processing according to consumption value, prioritizing the premium value balance, and total after the reduction It is characterized by further comprising a writing means for distinguishing the remaining value balance into a regular value balance and a premium value balance, and writing the respective values as visible and invisible information on the value card in a double manner.

<< Operation >> In the present invention, the premium giving means gives a certain premium value to the value card on condition that the number of times of use read by the reading means matches the specified number of times, and the premium value is added from the point of sale of the value card. Is never given.

In addition, since the total value balance is divided into the normal value balance and the premium value balance, and each of them is written twice as visible and invisible information on the value card, it is divided into the normal value balance and the premium value balance and separately. Can be visually confirmed,
In addition, the discrepancy between the magnetic balance information and the punching balance information does not occur.

<< Explanation of Embodiments >> As shown in FIG. 1, the value card 1 can be sucked in and sent out while being held between a lower conveyor belt 3 and an upper conveyor belt 4 driven by a motor 2. ing.

On the conveying path formed by the upper and lower belts 3 and 4, an entrance detector 5, a magnetic reading head 6, a magnetic writing head 7 and a perforation reader.
8, a drilling mechanism 9, and an end detector 10 are arranged in order.

The entrance detector 5 and the end detector 10 are composed of photoelectric sensors, for example.

As shown in FIG. 2, the control of the device of the present invention is performed by the CPU 12,
It is performed by a microcomputer mainly composed of the memory 13, and the interface 14 thereof has the above-mentioned entrance detector 5, magnetic read head 6, magnetic write head 7, perforation reader 8,
In addition to the punching mechanism 9 and the end portion detector 10, a card transport mechanism 11 including the motor 2 is connected.

Further, a higher-level controller 16 for calculating various charges is connected to the transmission interface 15 of the microcomputer.

FIG. 3 shows a general flow chart of the value card processing device. The operation of the device of the present invention will be systematically described below with reference to this flowchart.

When the program starts, various registers, counters, etc. are initialized by initial processing (step 300), and then a card insertion standby state is set based on the output of the entrance detector 5 (step 301 negative).

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6, on the magnetic recording band 1a of the value card 1, the regular (value) balance information 1B, the premium (value) balance information 1c, and the usage count information 1d are magnetic (invisible). It is recorded in. Further, on the surface of the value card 1, a display 1e indicating the regular balance at the start of use and a display 1g indicating that a certain premium value should be given when the card has been used a prescribed number of times are printed.

Also, one side edge of the surface of the value card 1 is provided with amount scales 1h to 1m indicating the regular balance, and perforations 1n to 1p are provided at intermediate positions between adjacent scales as necessary. Has been done.

Then, based on the amount scales 1h to 1m and the perforations 1n to 1p, the value of the regular balance at each use point can be visually confirmed.

In addition, one side edge of the surface of the value card 1 is provided with an amount scale 1q to 11s indicating a premium balance, and a hole 1t to 1v is drilled at an intermediate position between adjacent scales as necessary.
It is designed to be applied.

Then, based on the amount scales 1q to 1s and the perforations 1t to 1v, the value of the premium balance amount at each use point can be visually confirmed.

Returning to the flowchart of FIG. 3, when the value card 1 is inserted into a predetermined card entrance / exit, it is determined that the card is detected at the entrance based on the output of the entrance detector 5 (step
301 affirmative), the motor 2 rotates normally and the card is sucked into the device (step 302), during which the regular balance information 1b, premium balance information 1c and usage count information 1 on the magnetic recording band 1a.
d is the normal balance information and the perforations 1t to 1v that are read by the magnetic read head 6 and stored in the perforations 1a to 1p, respectively.
Similarly, the premium balance information stored in (3) is also read by the perforation reader 8 and each of the read information is stored in the corresponding area (step 303).

Next, the regular balance information 1b recorded magnetically (invisible) and the regular balance information recorded by perforation (visible)
When 1n to 1p are compared with each other and if they do not match (No at step 304), the motor is immediately reversed (step 305) and the card is conveyed toward the entrance.
When the arrival at the entrance is detected (Yes at Step 306), the timer is started (Step 307), the timer is started (Yes at Step 308), and the motor is stopped (Step 309). Is discharged to.

In this way, before the settlement process (step 310), the regular magnetic balance and the regular perforation balance are always compared, and if the two do not match, the value card is ejected to the outside, so the magnetic information Even if the data is rewritten, or the punching information is rewritten, incorrect settlement processing will not be performed.

On the other hand, when the magnetically recorded regular balance and the regular balance recorded by perforation match (Yes in step 304), the accuracy processing, which is the main part of the present invention, is executed ( Step 310).

As shown in FIG. 4, when the settlement process is started,
After transmitting the sum of the regular balance and the premium balance to the upper control device 16 (step 400), it is confirmed that the card has reached the terminal end (step 401 affirmative), and the rotation of the motor 2 is stopped (step 400). 402).

Next, it waits for a reception command from the host control device, and if the reception command arrives, the article purchase amount is received from the host control device (step 403).

Next, after the motor is rotated in the reverse direction (step 404), the card use count information is compared with the specified count information. If the specified count is not reached (Yes in step 405), normal settlement processing is performed.

In this normal settlement process, first, +1 is added to the card usage count information, the article purchase amount information is subtracted from the regular balance information, and the premium balance information is set to 0 (step 406).

Next, based on the new regular balance information, punching is performed as necessary (step 407), and thereafter, card usage count information, regular balance information, and premium balance information obtained by normal settlement processing are respectively recorded on the magnetic recording strip 1a. Rewrite (step 408).

As a result, the regular balance information 1b on the magnetic recording band 1a is reduced according to the purchase price of the article, and +1 is added to the usage count information 1d. Further, in this case, no premium is given.

On the other hand, by comparing the card usage count information with the specified count information, if it is determined that the card usage count has reached the specified count (No at step 405), the special settlement process according to the present invention is executed. (Step 409).

As shown in FIG. 5, when the special checkout process is started, the number of times the card has been used and the specified number of times are compared again, and only when both match (Yes at step 500),
+1 is added to the card usage count information, the product purchase amount is deducted from the regular balance information, and a certain premium amount is initially set in the premium balance information (step 501).
Next, in the punching area for premium balance on the card, punch 1 according to the premium amount (300 yen in this example)
v is applied (step 502).

Next, perforation is performed according to the newly obtained regular balance information (step 407), and magnetic writing is performed based on the newly obtained regular and premium balances (step 408).

As a result, when the number of times the card has been used reaches the specified number, the premium balance information 1c is initialized to a certain premium amount, and the premium scale is punched 1v corresponding to the premium amount. For the information 1b and the number-of-uses information 1d, the reduction process, the +1 addition process, the punching process, and the magnetic writing process are respectively performed as in the normal settlement process.

Therefore, even if you want to add a premium value to the value card 1, unless you use the card a specified number of times,
No premium value is given, and this makes it possible to reliably manage the premium giving conditions, and it is possible to visually confirm that 300 yen has been given as a premium based on the perforation 1v.

On the other hand, when the number of times the card has been used exceeds the prescribed number (No at Step 500), the reduction processing according to the consumption value is performed with the sum of the regular balance and the premium balance as the total balance of the value card.

That is, before the premium balance reaches 0 (No at step 503) and if the premium balance is larger than the product purchase amount (Yes at step 504), the regular balance is left as it is and the premium balance is prioritized. The goods purchase amount is deducted (step 505), while if the premium balance is smaller than the goods purchase amount (No at step 504), the premium balance is set to 0.
After that, the shortfall of the product purchase amount and the premium balance is
A process for subtracting from the regular balance is performed (step 50).
7).

Further, each time each processing (steps 505, 507) is completed, punching 1u, 1t corresponding to the premium balance is performed (steps 506, 508).

After that, as a result of performing steps 407 and 408 in the same manner, after the premium is given, the current regular balance and the premium balance can be visually confirmed separately.

As described above, in this embodiment, the premium is not initially set in the premium balance information 1c on the card unless the number of times the card has been used reaches the specified number, so that the premium value is not given from the point of sale of the card. Without, it is possible to manage the premium grant conditions with certainty.

In addition, in this embodiment, when a premium is given to the value card, the premium balance can be confirmed by punching, so that the total of the regular balance and the premium balance can be visually confirmed, and only the premium balance can be easily checked. Can be visually confirmed.

In addition, the total amount of the regular balance and the premium balance is used as the total value balance of the card, and when performing the reduction process according to the consumption value, the premium balance is prioritized for the reduction process, so the perforation information (visible information) For checking the total value balance of the value card from, if the premium value balance becomes 0, then just check the display (perforation) of the regular value balance and immediately check the total value balance of the card. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate the troublesome work of calculating the sum of the regular value balance and the premium value balance by mental calculation.

<< Effects of the Invention >> As described above, according to the present invention, when a premium is added to a value card, the conditions for giving the premium can be reliably managed, and malfunction of the device can be prevented.

Further, in the present invention, when a premium is given to the value card, the total value balance of the value card can be separately visually confirmed by dividing it into the normal value balance and the premium value balance.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the mechanical structure of the device of the present invention, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the same electrical hardware configuration. FIG. 3 is a general flow chart of the device according to the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the details of the settlement process, FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the details of the special settlement process, and FIG. 6 is a front view showing the structure of the value card. 1 ... Value card 2 ... Motor 3 ... Lower conveyor belt 4 ... Upper conveyor belt 5 ... Inlet detector 6 ... Magnetic reading head 7 ... Magnetic writing head 8 ... Perforation reader 9 ... … Punching mechanism 10 …… End detector 12 …… CPU 13 …… Memory

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A reading means for reading the remaining value and the number of times the card has been used from the inserted value card; and a premium giving means for giving a certain premium value, provided that the number of times the card has been read matches a prescribed number of times. A payment means for performing a reduction process according to the consumption value, with the sum of the normal value balance and the premium value balance as the total value balance of the card; and the total value balance after the reduction, the normal value balance and the premium value balance. A value card processing device, comprising: a writing unit that distinguishes each item into two and writes each of them with visible and invisible information on a value card. 2. A reading means for reading the remaining value of the value and the number of times of card use from the inserted value card; and a premium giving means for giving a certain premium value on condition that the number of times of use read matches a prescribed number of times. A sum total of the normal value balance and the premium value balance as the total value balance of the card, and prioritizing the premium value balance, and performing a reduction process according to the consumption value; and a total value balance after the reduction. A value card processing device, comprising: a writing unit that distinguishes between a normal value balance and a premium value balance, and that writes each of them as visible and invisible information on a value card in a double manner.