JP6435244B2 - Automatic contract apparatus and power supply method in automatic contract apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an automatic contract apparatus provided with printing means and a power supply method in the automatic contract apparatus.

  The automatic contract device is installed in a store where there is no staff or monitor, and the end user uses the automatic contract device to conduct transactions such as opening an account while interacting with the center operator. In order to print the contract document in this transaction, the automatic contracting apparatus is equipped with a printing unit. As a function of the printing unit, there is a technique shown in the following patent document.

  Patent Document 1 stores in a non-volatile storage medium all the information necessary for printing including print data information remaining when trouble occurs and at least recording data that is being recorded and unrecorded, and the stored contents are Even if the power of the apparatus is turned off, it does not disappear, so when the power is turned on next time, it is determined from the stored information, and if printing is in progress, the saved print data is restored and printing is performed. .

  Further, in Patent Document 2, when a failure occurs in any of physically removable physical devices, the device is logically disconnected and the power supply of the device logically disconnected by the power supply circuit is provided. Suppose This power supply circuit is provided with a relay corresponding to each physical device, and power is supplied when the relay is turned on and turned off when the relay is turned off.

  Further, in Patent Document 3, when a failure occurs during the operation of the apparatus, the cause of the failure that can be removed is automatically removed based on the determination result of the failure type. This is a technique for degrading a function that causes a failure that cannot be removed in order to restart the operation of the apparatus.

JP-A-6-24105 JP-A-7-219718 JP-A-5-73602

  By the way, Patent Document 1 discloses a means for solving the problem that there is a risk of electric shock by performing trouble processing while the power is turned on for the printing unit, and that the printing unit is in front of the apparatus because the person who performs trouble handling is in front of the apparatus. Even when recovery from trouble processing is started and printing is started, the document issued from the printing section can be received, which is effective in the case where the document is not left untouched. Further, in Patent Documents 2 and 3, when a failure occurs during operation, it is a means based on the premise of degeneration in order to continue operation by separating the failed part.

  However, in Patent Documents 1 to 3, in a device that does not have a means for detecting a sensor failure in the printing unit, if a sensor fails due to a power failure during printing, a trouble has occurred. Since it looks normal at first glance, the apparatus does not store failure information and returns without entering degeneration, and issues a document in the middle of printing. At that time, if there is no person to troubleshoot in front of the device, or if the contractor is not in front of the device, there is a risk that the contract document will be left unattended.

  Therefore, as a means for preventing the document from being left unattended, there is a mechanism for transporting the document or a mechanism for preventing the contract document from being left unattended near the discharge port where the document is printed and issued. Although it is necessary, mounting the mechanism and the shutter increases the size of the apparatus and the cost. Further, even when a dedicated printing unit specialized for an automatic contracting apparatus is used, the cost increases due to the specialization.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and realizes an automatic contract apparatus that does not issue a document in the middle of printing even when a failure occurs, and a power supply method in the automatic contract apparatus at a low cost. With the goal.

  In order to solve the above problems and achieve the object, an automatic contract apparatus according to the present invention includes a printing unit, a control unit that outputs print data to the printing unit, and a power source for the printing unit and the control unit. A power control unit that supplies power, and the power control unit stores a pattern table that defines a pattern for supplying power to the printing unit and / or the control unit, and stores the pattern table in the pattern table when a failure is recovered The automatic contracting apparatus is characterized in that power is supplied to each of the units in accordance with the pattern being set.

  The present invention is also grasped as a power supply method performed by the automatic contract apparatus.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the power supply method in the automatic contract apparatus and automatic contract apparatus with which the document in the middle of printing is not issued even when a failure generate | occur | produces can be implement | achieved at low cost.

Example of external view of automatic contract device System Configuration Power supply control unit startup pattern table Flow chart from power on to transaction end Flow chart at power recovery processing

  Exemplary embodiments of an automatic contract apparatus and a power supply method in the automatic contract apparatus according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following, the case where the present invention is applied to an automatic contract apparatus is described. However, the present invention is not limited to an automatic contract apparatus, but is applied to various apparatuses having a function of printing a document traded with a user. be able to.

  An automatic contract apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 is an automatic contract apparatus that is installed in an unattended installation location where there is no attendant or monitor, for example. As shown in FIG. 1, the automatic contract apparatus 1 is provided with a display / input unit 2 as a guide means on the side of an operator who uses the apparatus. The display / input unit 2 displays input information for touch operation, operation guidance, and the like. Also, a document issuing port (with paper tray function) 4 is provided below the display / input unit 2, and a sensor 3 is provided between the document issuing port (with paper tray function) 4 and the printing unit 5. The sensor 3 monitors whether a document has been issued.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a part of the internal configuration of the automatic contracting apparatus 1 and a system configuration connected to the center terminal 8 via the network 9.
The automatic contract apparatus 1 includes a control unit 6 that controls the apparatus and print data, a print unit 5 that processes print data transferred from the control unit 6 to print and issue contract documents, and an automatic contract. The power source of the apparatus 1 includes a power source control unit 7 that controls supply / disconnection of power to the printing unit 5 and the control unit 6 and other parts. In addition, the power supply control unit 7 includes a memory 71 that stores an activation control pattern table that is a pattern indicating the order in which the printing unit 5 and the control unit 6 are activated.

  FIG. 3 is a table illustrating an activation control pattern of the power supply control unit 7. The power control unit 7 controls the power supply to the printing unit 5 and the control unit 6 by checking the activation control pattern in the illustrated table. The printing flags of the printing unit 5 and the control unit 6 stored in the memory 71 of the power control unit 7 are normally set to “0”. When the apparatus power is started in this state, the power control unit 7 It is possible to start by supplying power in the order of the printing unit 5 and the control unit 6 or by supplying power in the order of the control unit 6 and the printing unit 5 in reverse order. The reason why these units are activated in the order of the printing unit 5 and the control unit 6 or in the reverse order is that if these units are activated at the same time, the inrush current increases and the entire apparatus may be down. It is.

  If the print flag of the printing unit 5 is set to “1”, only the control unit 6 can be activated without supplying power to the printing unit 5. The print flag is set to “1” when a print data transfer process for the contract document print data from the control unit 6 to the print unit 5 is executed in the transaction. When the print data transfer process is executed, the control unit 6 sets the print flag “1” of the printing unit 5 to the power supply control unit 7. When it is determined that the printing is normally performed by the printing unit 5 and the document issuance is confirmed by the sensor 3, the control unit 6 sets the print flag “0” of the printing unit 5 to the power control unit 7. .

  FIG. 4 shows a flowchart from power activation to the end of the transaction. Hereinafter, a series of flow during normal operation will be described.

  Receiving the power-on instruction (step S 1) from the center terminal 8, the power control unit 7 determines whether the print flag of the activation control pattern stored in the memory 71 of the power control unit 7 is “0” or “1”. An activation control pattern check (step S2) is performed.

  When determining that the print flag is “0”, the power control unit 7 turns on the printing unit 5 to supply power to the printing unit 5 (step S3).

  Next, as a power supply to the control unit 6, the power control unit 7 turns on the control unit 6 (step S4) and starts the automatic contract apparatus 1. The control unit 6 determines whether or not the application has started up normally by this control (step S5). When it is determined that the application has started up normally (step S5; Yes), the end user waits for a visit to the store (step S6). It becomes. Here, when the end user visits the store and proceeds with the transaction sequentially from the start of the transaction (step S7), the contract document is printed.

  At this time, the control unit 6 checks the print flag stored in the memory 71 of the power supply control unit 7 as a pre-print start state check (step S8). The power control unit 7 responds to the control unit 6 with the print flag “0” being set. The control unit 6 confirms the print flag “0”, and this time sets the print flag “1” of the printing unit 5 to the power supply control unit 7.

  The power control unit 7 responds to the control unit 6 that the print flag of the set printing unit 5 is “1”. The control unit 6 confirming the print flag “1” of the printing unit 5 transfers the print data to the printing unit 5, and the printing unit 5 shifts to the start of printing contract documents (step S 9).

  When the control unit 6 finishes printing the contract document and the sensor 3 detects the document, the control unit 6 sets the print flag “0” of the printing unit 5 to the power supply control unit 7 to cancel the print flag (step S10). Further, the control unit 6 determines whether or not there are a plurality of contract documents (step S11). If there are a plurality of documents (step S11; Yes), the process returns to step S8 and the subsequent processing is performed for the remaining number of sheets. Is repeated and if it is determined that all the sheets have been printed (step S11; No), the process is terminated.

  If the print flag of the printing unit 5 is “1” in the activation control pattern check (step S2) after the power-on instruction, the power control unit 7 does not activate the printing unit 5 but activates only the control unit 6. After that, since the printing unit 5 is in a power-off state, in step S5, the control unit 6 determines that the application has not started normally (step S5; No), and determines the power-off state and printing unit failure of the printing unit 5. It detects (step S12, S13).

  Thereafter, after the failure recovery process of the printing unit 5 (step S14), when the power control unit 7 forcibly cancels the print flag of the printing unit 5 to "0" by a failure recovery processor such as an administrator of the automatic contracting apparatus 1. (Step S15), the power control unit 7 supplies power to the printing unit 5, the power of the printing unit 5 is turned on (Step S16), and the process shifts to waiting for an end user visit (Step S5).

  In the unlikely event that the contract document being printed is issued from the printing unit 5, the failure recovery processor receives the contract document, and when the end user is present, the end document may be handed over to the end user. I can do it.

  For example, when a plurality of contract documents are printed continuously in the above series of transactions, as described in step S11, the pre-printing status check (step S8) is performed one by one, and the contract document printing is completed. From the detection of the document by the sensor 3, the printing flag is canceled (step S10). At this time, if the sensor 3 has not been extracted, the pre-printing state check (step S8) reports the extraction state of the sensor 3 to the application, and the application notifies the end user of the extraction warning.

  Next, the operation when a power failure occurs during the printing of the contract document and the power is restored after that will be described using the flowchart of the power recovery process in FIG. In the following, description of steps that perform the same processing as the steps of FIG. 4 is omitted.

  When the transaction is started in step S21, the control unit 6 performs a pre-printing start state check (step S22) on the power supply control unit 7 before printing the contract document and stores it in the memory 71 of the power supply control unit 7. The printing flag “1” of the printing unit 5 is set, and the control unit 6 transfers the print data to the printing unit 5, but a power failure occurs while the print data is being transferred or the printing unit 5 is printing the contract document. When this occurs, the automatic contract apparatus 1 that detects a power failure shuts down and enters a power-off state. Thereafter, at the same time when the power is restored, the power control unit 7 is activated.

  At this time, the power control unit 7 performs a start control pattern check (step S27). If the print flag of the printing unit 5 is “1”, only the control unit 6 is not supplied with power to the printing unit 5. Since the power is supplied, the application does not start normally and a print unit failure occurs.

  As in the case of FIG. 4, after the failure recovery process of the printing unit 5 (step S <b> 32), when the failure recovery processor forcibly cancels the print flag for the power supply control unit 7 (step S <b> 33), the power supply control unit 7. Supplies power to the printing unit 5, turns on the printing unit (step S34), and shifts to waiting for the end user to visit the store. At this time, if the contract document is printed and issued from the printing unit 5, the failure recovery processor receives the contract document, and if the end user is present, the issued document can be handed over to the end user. .

  As described above, in this embodiment, since the automatic contracting apparatus having a printing unit such as a printer for printing a document such as a contract document executes the above processing, a document issued from the printing unit without detecting a failure. Is not left unattended, and it is possible to reliably prevent the printing unit from issuing a document without detecting a failure while suppressing the increase in cost and size of the apparatus.

  In the above embodiment, the order of power supply according to the activation control pattern is the order from the printing unit 5 to the control unit 6, or vice versa, the order from the control unit 6 to the printing unit 5. A certain time interval may be provided from when the power is supplied until the power is supplied to the other units. For example, after the power supply control unit 7 supplies power to the printing unit 5, the control unit 6 is placed after an interval (for example, about 0.1 ms) at which the activation timing of the printing unit 5 and the control unit 6 is surely shifted. Supply power. By passing through such a delay time, it is possible to reliably prevent the entire apparatus from being down due to an increase in inrush current due to the activation of the printing unit 5 and the control unit 6.

  Further, the power control unit 7 receives an instruction to cancel the print flag from the center terminal 8 connected to the automatic contracting apparatus 1 via the network 9, and “1” indicating that power is not supplied to the printing unit 5 according to the instruction. "0" is canceled or the button provided on the display / input unit 2 receives a press from a failure recovery processor such as an administrator of the automatic contracting apparatus 1, and You may cancel. In this case, since the flag is released from the remote center, it is possible to deliver the contract document that was being printed without having to go directly to the failure recovery processor when the customer is on the spot. . When a release button is provided, the contract document can be directly delivered to the customer at any timing when the failure recovery processor presses the release button.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Automatic contract apparatus 2 ... Display and input part 3 ... Sensor 4 ... Document issue port (with paper tray function)
5... Printing unit 6... Control unit 7... Power source control unit 71... Memory 8.

Claims (5)

A printing section;
A control unit for outputting print data to the printing unit;
A the printing unit and the power supply control unit for supplying power to the control unit, stores a pattern table that defines a pattern for supplying power to the front SL printing unit and / or the control unit, the fault recovery time, The power supply control unit that supplies power to the printing unit and / or the control unit according to the pattern stored in the pattern table ,
The pattern table stores, as the pattern, a first pattern that activates the control unit and activates the printing unit, and a second pattern that activates the printing unit and activates the control unit,
The power control unit controls power supply to the printing unit and / or the control unit according to the first pattern or the second pattern;
An automatic contract device characterized by that. The automatic contract apparatus according to claim 1,
The power supply control unit starts either the printing unit or the control unit, and then starts either the control unit or the printing unit after a predetermined delay time.
An automatic contract device characterized by that. The automatic contract apparatus according to claim 1,
The power control unit is provided in a print flag release instruction indicating that power is not supplied to the printing unit received from a center terminal connected to the automatic contracting device via a network, or in a display input unit of the automatic contracting device. Receiving the print flag release instruction by pressing the given button, and releasing the print flag stored as the pattern;
An automatic contract device characterized by that. The automatic contract apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein
The power supply control unit sets the print flag before starting printing by the printing unit, executes processing for releasing the print flag after printing by the printing unit, and when a failure occurs during printing Determines whether or not the print flag stored as the pattern is set the next time the automatic contract apparatus is activated, and if it is determined that the print flag is set, Execute recovery processing without starting the printing department,
An automatic contract device characterized by that. Before starting printing by the printing unit, setting a print flag indicating that power is not supplied to the printing unit;
Removing the print flag after completion of printing by the printing unit,
A step of determining whether or not the print flag is set as a pattern for supplying power to the printing unit or / and the control unit when the automatic contracting apparatus is activated next time when a failure occurs during printing; When,
If it is determined that the print flag is set, a step of executing recovery processing without activating the printing unit;
Supplying power to the printing unit or / and the control unit according to the pattern;
A method for supplying power in an automatic contracting apparatus, comprising:

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