This invention concerns a prepayment metering system using a card on which information may be stored and from which stored information may be erased. In one form, a number (A) recorded on the card is read at the meter and stored (30) in preparation for the next card insertion. To obtain a further credit at the meter, the card is taken to a terminal station (12) at which the number (A) recorded on the card is read and is subjected to an encryption process under the control of a key and the resulting number (A') is recorded on the card in place of the previous number (A). On the next insertion of the card at the meter (21), the number (A') is read from the card and subjected to a decryption step (22) using the same key, the result of the decryption being compared with the number stored in the register (30) and in the event of a match a credit is issued. In another embodiment, the terminal generates a random number which is subjected to encryption and both the random number and the result of the encryption are recorded on the card and subsequently used at the meter.
System for controlling the supply of utility services, such as electricity, gas, water, and oil, and other services, such as telephone, cable television, and the like to a consumer. The system includes one or more service supply control units for controlling the supply of the service to a consumer location over a predetermined time period. A timing device is connected to the supply control unit for setting the time period over which the supply control units supply the service to the consumer. A deactuating device is connected to the supply control units for effecting termination of the supply of the service upon expiry of the predetermined time period. An actuator card is provided for actuating the supply control units.
An erroneous-operation preventive apparatus operable with an operation medium has a unit for receiving the operation medium. The unit includes first and second data modifiers and the operation medium stores first data, second data equal to the first data modified by the first data modifier, and third data equal to the first data modified by the second data modifier. When the operation medium is set in the unit, the first and second modifiers modify the first data from the operation medium. The modified first data is compared with the second and third data from the operation medium to decide the correctness of operation when the comparison results indicate a predetermined relationship between the modified first data with the respective second and third data.
The invention concerns a card activated prepayment and metering systgem for the sale of a utility service. Distributors are sold bulk sevice credits which they then resell in smaller quantities to individual customers. Customers are issued magnetic striped cards upon which information may be stored and from which information may be retrieved. Distributors issue credits on the cards which are later read by a customer's home terminal. Periodically, credit information is dumped from the distributor's terminal to a central computer. Similarly, audit information is periodically read and dumped from a customer's terminal to the central computer. The computer controls each customer's terminal through information broadcast over an FM transmitter, which is received by a receiver in each customer's terminal.
A prepayment utility metering method and apparatus which uses encoded mag-stripe cards to transfer purchase information from the utility billing office to the customer's premises. The mag-stripe cards are read at the customer's premises by a microprocessor-controlled utility metering and control device which meters the utilities according to the amount purchased at the utility billing office. The value information encoded on the mag-stripe cards is comprised of the amount of the purchase coded in terms of number of shaft revolutions of the metering disk, a rate schedule for metering the value of the utilities consumed, and a special sequential password containing an encrypted combination of the consumer's account number, the consumer's site identification, and the sequence number of the current purchase. This encoding scheme for prepayment of utilities provides an effective and economical method of distributing utilities that prevents fraud and tampering. The present invention also includes a method and apparatus for providing an emergency credit to utility consumers when the prepurchased amount is exhausted. An emergency mag-stripe card is used to credit the user's account with a purchased amount of utilities adequate to tide the consumer over until the billing office opens on the next business day. The emergency mag-stripe card cannot be used more than once, and the credit amount in the meter must be replenished by a new purchase of utilities before the emergency card can be used again.
A system for enabling a central location to control a service at a plurality of remote locations. The system includes a plurality of control modules for controlling the length of time for actuation of a switch at remote locations. A magnetic stripe card programs one of the plurality control modules to provide a service to the remote location for a predetermined period of time. The magnetic stripe card also programs the remote control module with a series of progressive warning modes. A central site manager programs the magnetic stripe cards for use with a specific control module. The central site manager contains a storage means containing information concerning each control module under the control of the site manager and information concerning all of the magnetic stripe cards issued by the central site manager.
