JPH063488Y2 - Bill validator - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of application] The present invention relates to a bill validator for identifying the authenticity of bills and reading the boarding fare when boarding a vehicle such as a route bus.

[Conventional technology]

Due to the troublesomeness of purchasing a ticket when connecting between a bus and other transportation means, or between buses and buses, and the problem that the price becomes high if you purchase a ticket for each, those The introduction of a card-type ticket system to solve the above problem is under consideration. This is a method in which a high-priced ticket of a predetermined amount is purchased, and after that, within the valid period, the purchase amount can be freely divided and used as many times as desired. This method has been proposed in Japanese Patent Application No. 60-124944.

However, in the above-mentioned proposal, a card processing device is newly provided at the entrance and the exit, and since there is a fare box especially at the exit (front) in the bus vehicle, a new attachment of the card processing device is required for passengers. It also obstructs the passage of the vehicle and also hinders the driver's visual field when checking the safety of passengers getting off the vehicle. In addition, it is possible to install the card processing device in the fare box, but in that case it is natural that a new space for the card processing device is required.To do this, either increase the shape of the fare box or It requires a new design with major structural changes.

The purpose of this device is to get inside a bus vehicle without a space (exit)
Then, it is an object of the present invention to provide a bill validator for realizing the card type ticket clearing system without requiring a large design change of a conventional device or a modification of the device.

[Means for solving problems]

According to this invention, the bill inserted from the bill insertion slot is conveyed by the conveying means, and the magnetic component contained in the printing ink of the bill is detected during the conveyance to judge the authenticity of the bill. In the device, when a ticket is inserted from a ticket insertion slot having a dimension that matches the width of the ticket other than the bill insertion slot, the ticket is detected by the detecting means and is guided by the conveying means by the conveying means. It is led to the same transport path as the bill. The stored information of the ticket is read by the reading means on the transport path, and the validity of the read information is judged by the validity judging means. When a banknote is inserted from the banknote insertion slot, the authenticity of the banknote is determined by the authenticity determining unit.

By changing the insertion port in this way, it is not necessary to distinguish the bill from the ticket, and the validity of the ticket can be determined by using the bill authenticity determination device.

Explaining the above as an example of the case of determining the validity of a magnetic card type ticket, in the card type ticket settlement system, a magnetic card type ticket purchased by a vending machine in advance (hereinafter referred to as a ticket (Note) is read by the card processing device provided in the vehicle, rewritten, and the boarding fare is settled.

Depending on the fare type of the bus, there are cases where the card processing device is provided at each of the entrance and exit, and a case where it is provided at one of the exits. In other words, the former is a multi-sector fare type, and the fare changes depending on the boarding distance (boarding section) .Therefore, when boarding, insert the ticket into the card processing device at the entrance, and the boarding position (section) on the ticket. When you insert the ticket into the card processing device at the exit,
This is a method of adjusting the fare from the boarding position information recorded on the ticket. The latter is a uniform fare type, and since it is a fixed fare regardless of the boarding distance, the fare can be settled by inserting the ticket into the card processing device either when getting off or when getting on .

The bill validator according to the present invention can be used in any of the above-mentioned operation modes, and has the same shape as a conventional bill validator used in a fare box for receiving a fare for cash paying passengers. Therefore, it can be easily stored in the fare box, and the extra space as a card processing device and the special modification in the fare box can be minimized. In addition, it is natural that the cost can be reduced.

That is, the bill validator according to the present invention has a conventional function of determining the authenticity of the bill by detecting the magnetic component contained in the printing ink of the bill, and the ticket inserted from the ticket insertion port to the conveying means. A switching means for guiding, a means for reading and rewriting the recorded information of the ticket, and the like are provided to enable the fare settlement of the ticket.

〔Example〕

An embodiment in which the bill validator of the present invention enables settlement of a magnetic card type ticket will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

The overall construction of the embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS.

Conveying Means In the bill discriminating apparatus 1, when a bill 3 is inserted from the bill insertion slot 2, the conveying means 4 conveys the bill. In the conveying means 4, for example, the pulleys 5 and 6 are arranged in parallel near the bill insertion opening, and the pulleys 8 and 9 are arranged in parallel near the bill conveying exit 7, between the pulleys 5 and 8 before and after the same, and Belts 11 and 12 are stretched between 6 and 9. Similarly, the pulleys 5, 6, 8 and 9 are made to face the peripheral surface closely, and the pulleys 15, 16, 18 and 19 (16 and 19 are hidden in the figure) are arranged immediately below them. Between 16, 19
Belts 21 and 22 (22 is hidden) are stretched between them, and the belts 11 and 21 and 12 and 22 are in contact with each other. The pulleys 8 and 9 have a common drive shaft 13
Mounted on the drive shaft 13 is a stepping motor 14
Is driven to rotate, and the belts 11, 12, 21, 22 are also rotated. The banknote 3 inserted from the banknote insertion slot 2 is conveyed while being sandwiched between the belts 11 and 21 and 12 and 22 and ejected from the banknote ejection slot 7.

Normally, the bill 3 is accepted from the bill insertion slot 2. However, when the ticket 29 is inserted from the ticket insertion slot 23, the passage switching means 26 is switched to the ticket processing side, and the ticket 29 is stored in the above-mentioned manner. Lead to the banknote transport path. Tickets are generally credit card size 54 x 86 mm (JIS standard),
There is a 57.5 × 85 mm type used for commuter passes such as railways, and other shape dimensions can be selected, and the dimension of the ticket insertion slot 23 is matched to the width of the ticket 29. The boarding ticket 29 has magnetically recorded necessary data such as the number of times the boarding ticket is valid, the fare that can be boarded, and if necessary, the validity period and the type of adult or child. These data are recorded on the magnetic stripe 30 of the ticket 29.

The insertion detection of the bill 3 and the ticket 29 is performed by the optical sensors 24 and 25 arranged at the bill insertion slot 2 and the ticket insertion slot 23.
By. When the insertion of the bill 3 or the ticket 29 is detected, the ticket opening shutter 28 of the ticket insertion opening 23 in the case of a bill is the shutter 27 of the bill insertion opening 2 in the case of the ticket 29.
Closes and prevents subsequent insertions.

The sensors 24 and 25 are, for example, of a transmissive type as shown in FIG. 3, and the light emitting units 24a and 25a and the light receiving unit 2 are used.
4b and 25b.

Thickness control means In order to prevent paper jams and other problems (also called jams) from occurring between banknotes and tickets that have different thicknesses, and to enable the reading head to read the recorded information on the ticket correctly, In this example, as shown in FIG.
1, 33 are driven by the plunger solenoid 35, and when the thick ticket 29 passes, the pressing roller 36 and the magnetic head 3
Widen the intervals of 1, 33 to make it easier for the ticket 29 to pass.
When the bill 3 passes, the plunger solenoid 35
In the OFF state, the distance between the pressing roller 36 and the magnetic head 31 is narrow.

Reading Unit As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the magnetic component of the bill 3 conveyed by the conveying unit 4, the magnetic head 31 necessary for reading the recorded information of the ticket 29, and the amplification of the output signal thereof. A demodulation circuit 32 for demodulation is provided. In this example, one magnetic head is used for both the detection of the magnetic component of the bill 3 and the reading of the recorded information of the boarding ticket 29, but it is also possible to provide a magnetic head for operating each independently. is there.

Rewriting Means A magnetic head 33 and a writing drive circuit 34 are provided for rewriting the information recorded on the ticket 29. The recording method, the data format, etc. may be determined in consideration of the shape of the ticket 29 and the connection with other transportation means.

Control unit Controls the passage switching unit 26, the thickness regulating unit 35, the conveying unit 4, the reading unit, the rewriting unit, and the like to control the bill 3
Is provided with a control unit 40 that can determine the validity and type of the ticket, settle the fare of the boarding ticket 29, and send the determination data or the settlement data to each device as necessary.

FIG. 4 shows an example of connection between each unit and the control unit 40 and a functional block in the control unit 40. The control unit 40 is an interface unit (hereinafter referred to as I /
41), an I / O 43 with the external device 42,
A data memory 44 for banknote determination, a data memory 45 for ticket determination, a data memory 46 for fare adjustment, and a data recording memory 47 for recording the actual use of tickets or banknotes provided as necessary, A clock 48 used when determining the validity or transit validity of a ticket and a microcomputer 49 for controlling the above-mentioned components are connected to each other via a data bus 50.

Generally, the validity of the bill is determined by reading the outer dimensions and the pattern of the magnetic component printed on the bill 3. The external dimensions are, for example, the transmission type optical sensor 5 at an appropriate position on the conveyance path.
It is possible to determine by arranging 3 _{1 to} 53 _n (FIGS. 1 and 2) and cutting off the sensors 53 _{1 to} 53 _n . The magnetic component can be determined by comparing the pattern data in digital form. The comparison data of validity, the data of the allowable range,
It is stored in the data memory 44. Note that the above-mentioned sensor is a detection when the bill 3 is stopped halfway (jam sensor)
It can also be used as a home position sensor for magnetic recording or reading.

The validity of the boarding ticket 29 is determined by comparing the predetermined data formats recorded on the boarding ticket. For example, the data format is the code of the company that can be transferred, the type code that an adult or a dwarf knows, the valid amount of money that can be boarded, the valid period that can be used, the number of times that you can board if you judge by the number of times, the fare in the boarding section If the payment is made, the code of the boarding place may be used, and if the transfer is possible, the code of the boarding place or the code of the boarding time or the preceding boarding system may be used as necessary. Therefore, the necessary determination data described above, which is determined by the determination method of the ticket 29, is stored in the data memory 45.

The fare settlement memory 46 does not have to be of a type in which the number of times is reduced, but it is necessary when the amount is subtracted. The data of the fare table corresponding to the boarding section is stored in the data memory 47.

It should be noted that the memory data for the fare adjustment, the system code necessary for the validity determination and variable depending on the operating system, the exit code, etc. are received from the external device 42 and rewritten.

Next, the general operation of the microcomputer 49 will be described with reference to the operation flowchart of FIG.

The start is the detection of the insertion of bills / tickets. The microcomputer 49 detects the insertion of the bill 3 or the ticket 29 by the sensor 24 or 25, and the bill 3 and the ticket 2 are detected by the processing program (ROM) incorporated in the microcomputer.
It is determined to be 9 (S ₁ , S ₂ ).

If the bill 3 _(S 3), to check the passage switching means 26 _(S 4), if it is a bill-side, drives the conveying motor 14 _(S 5), the magnetic component of the bill at the read head 31 Is read, and the outer dimensions are detected by the sensors 53 _{1 to} 53 _n to identify the type of the bill 3 (S ₅ , S ₆ ). And, if valid bill, and outputs the identification signal to the external device 42, and sends the bill to the outlet 7 (S _7). When it is determined that the banknote 3 is a defective banknote, the motor 14 is rotated in the reverse direction in order to return the banknote 3 to the banknote insertion slot 2, and is stopped after rotating for a predetermined time. The defective determination signal can also be output to an external device if necessary (S ₈ ). Passage switching means 26
If it is in ticket side performs the operations of steps S ₅ to S ₈ after switching it to the bill side.

If ticket 29 is inserted, detects whether channel switching means 26 is Tsu switched to ticket insertion opening side (S _9), which switches the ticket side, if the bill side. Next, the magnetic head 3
The distance between the pressing rollers 36 and 1, 33 is the thickness regulating means 35.
(S ₁₀ ). It should be noted that although the thickness regulating means operates to detect the boarding ticket, it can be mechanically configured to operate to detect the bill.

Next, the transport motor 14 is driven (S ₁₁ ), the record data of the ticket 29 is read by the read head 31 (S ₁₂ ), the content of the data is judged by the data memory 45, and if it is an effective ticket, the data memory 46 performs calculation of fares based on (S _14), at the time of conveying the ticket 29 to the write head 33, rewrites the record contents computed previously (S _15). After that, the conveyance of the motor 14 is reversed (S ₁₆ ), the fact that the normal motor has been rewritten on the ticket is read again by the read head 31, and the data is collated (checked) (S ₁₇ ). If the result of the collation is OK,
Return the ticket 29 into the insertion port 23, and outputs the processed data to an external device 42 (S _18). In addition, for a ticket or a defective card that has been improperly read, or an incorrect card that has been rewritten, the motor 14 is reversed at that time (S ₁₉ ) and an error message is output to the external device 42 (S ₂₀ ).

Fare Box FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 show how the device 1 is attached to the fare box 61. For example, the bill validator 1 is mounted in the upper corner portion of the fare box 61, and when the bill 3 is inserted into the insertion slot 2, the exchange money comes out to the tray 63. In the fare box 61, the bills discharged from the bill validator 1 are belts 64, 6
It is sandwiched between 5 and accommodated in the safe 66. The used tickets 29 can also be stored in the safe 66. The external device 42 is a control unit here for controlling each mechanical unit built in the fare box body.

Modified Example of Banknote Identification Device FIG. 8 shows a case where a puncher 67 for opening a punch hole for displaying the remaining amount of a ticket is provided near the outlet 7.

[Effect of device]

According to the bill validator according to the present invention, since the bill validator can have almost the same shape as the conventional bill validator, the bill validator can be easily stored in the fare box, the special modification for cashless can be minimized, and the cost can be reduced. It can be cheaper.

Further, since the insertion opening of the ticket 29 is aligned with the width of the ticket, the mechanism for aligning the width of the ticket on the transport path is not required, and the structure is simplified.

Further, when a banknote and a card having different thicknesses are conveyed through the same conveying path, a paper jam is likely to occur in a soft banknote, but when a thickness regulating means is provided, this problem can be solved.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 (a) is a view showing transmissive sensors 24 and 25, and FIG. 3 (b) is A front view showing an example of a thickness control means,
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the function of the control unit 40 and the connection state thereto, FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing an example of the operation of the control unit 40, and FIG. 6 is a state in which the device of the present invention is attached to a fare box. FIG. 7 is an external perspective view of a portion, FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the inside of FIG. 6 in a simplified manner, and FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example in which a puncher is provided.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A bill discriminating apparatus which conveys a bill inserted from a bill insertion slot by a conveying means and detects the magnetic component contained in the printing ink of the bill during the conveyance to judge the authenticity of the bill. In the above, a ticket insertion slot having a size matching the width of the ticket other than the bill insertion slot, a means for guiding the ticket inserted from the ticket insertion slot to the transportation means, and a transportation means for transporting the ticket. A reading means for reading the information stored in the ticket during transportation, a detecting means for detecting the information when the ticket is inserted into the ticket insertion slot, and a detecting means for detecting the insertion of the ticket. A bill validator comprising: validity determining means for determining validity of the ticket from the stored information of the ticket read by the reading means.