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Description  |
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a system which can be used in an automatic
vending machine or other devices related thereto, and more particularly,
to such system capable of renewing amount record in a prepaid card.
In a prepaid card, namely, a prepaid purchase card, money amount
information is recorded by means of magnetic or other suitable recording
methods.
There are generally two types of prepaid cards in reruns of their usages.
With one type of the cards, an amount spent is merely subtracted from the
amount recorded in the card until its balance becomes zero at which time
the card is prohibited from further use. With the other type, additional
or cumulative renewal of a recorded amount is enabled so that the card can
be used permanently or recycled. Further, with the other type, a cash
amount can be entered into the card by the use of a dedicated cash amount
recording machine, or by the use of an automatic vending machine for which
both money and a card can be used.
The entering of a cash amount into a card by the use of an automatic
vending machine for which both money and a card can be used is disclosed,
for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 52-28396,
55-52191 or 59-117692, or Japanese Patent Publication No. 54-20367. Each
of the above-listed publications shows the feature that amounts of
inserted card and money are added together, a product sale is permitted
only within the range of the sum of the card and money amounts, and the
amount of change is written into the inserted card instead of being
returned in cash.
Also, Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 62-24393 shows the feature
that the amount of change is written into a card instead of being returned
in cash when a sale has been made, whereas the sum of the amounts of
inserted card and money is written into the card in response to the
actuation of a card returning button when no sale has been made.
However, when the amount recorded in a prepaid card is to be additionally
renewed in the prior art prepaid card systems, it is not at all possible
to receive the change in cash even if so desired, for the reason that the
total amount of the change is, as mentioned, automatically written into
the card when a sale has been made by the combined payment of a card and
cash. This undesirably causes inconveniences to the purchaser or user when
he wants the change to be given back in cash.
Also, according to the prior art prepaid card systems, the entire amount of
the change is additionally written, and it is impossible to additionally
write only a desired amount into the card.
Furthermore, automatic vending machines which sell various prepaid card,
such as a telephone card vending machine are also known. However, each of
the known machines of this type only issues a new prepaid card in response
to the required payment and it can not additionally renew the amount
recorded in an already issued prepaid card.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a vending
system which enables an amount recorded in a prepaid card to be
additionally renewed freely as desired by a user, irrespective of whether
or not a sale has been made.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a prepaid card
vending system which can renew an amount recorded in an already issued
prepaid card in addition to selling a new prepaid card.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a vending
system which enables a desired amount to be selectively recorded in an
already issued prepaid card.
A vending system according to the first aspect of the present invention
comprises a money identifying section for identifying an inserted money, a
card receiving section for receiving a card in which amount information is
recorded, a card amount reading section for reading the amount information
recorded in the card that is received by said card receiving section, a
money amount calculating section for counting an amount of the inserted
money based on an output of said money identifying section and obtaining a
balance of the inserted money by subtracting an amount corresponding to a
selling price of a product, a card amount calculating section for
inputting the amount read by the card amount reading section and obtaining
a balance of the card amount by subtracting the input amount an amount
corresponding to a selling price of a product, writing-instruction means
for instructing for writing of amount information into the card, a product
sale selecting section for selecting a sale of a product, a selling
section for performing a selling action for a product when the product has
been selected by said product sale selecting section, a subtraction
controlling section for, when the selling action has been performed,
controlling said money amount calculating section and said card amount
calculating section in such a manner that an amount equivalent to a
selling price of a sold product is subtracted in at least one of said
calculating sections, a first write-controlling section for, when
subtraction has been performed in said card amount calculating section
under a control of said subtraction controlling section, writing a balance
thereof into the card received by said card receiving section, and a
second write-controlling section for, in response to instruction of said
writing-instruction means, writing a sum of outputs of said money amount
calculating section and said card amount calculating section into the card
received by said card receiving section and then automatically returning
the card.
The vending system according to the first aspect of the present invention
as mentioned above is concerned with automatic vending machines in general
for which money and a card can be used in combination.
When money has been inserted, the money is first identified by the
identifying section, and an amount of the inserted money is counted by the
money amount calculating section based on the identification results.
When, on the other hand, a card has been inserted, the card is received by
the receiving section, and amount information recorded in the card is read
by the card amount calculating section to be input to the card amount
calculating section. Before a sale is made, the output of the money amount
calculating section indicates the amount of the inserted money, and the
output of the card amount calculating section indicates the current amount
of the inserted card.
When a product has been selected by means of the product sale selecting
section, a sale is permitted within the range of the sum of the amount of
the inserted money and the current amount of the card as is conventionally
known, and a product selling action is performed by the selling section.
When a sale has been made, the amount equivalent to the selling price of
the sold product is subtracted in at least one of the money amount
calculating section and card amount calculating section under the control
of the subtraction controlling section. The control in this case may be
made in any suitable manner. For example, the selling price may be
subtracted first or preferentially from one of the cash and card amounts
and then the balance due, if any, may be subtracted from the other of the
amounts; or the selling price may be divided into two at a suitable ratio
so that respective amounts are subtracted from the cash and card amounts
in accordance with the ratio. As the result of the subtraction, respective
necessary subtractions are made in the money amount calculating section
and the card amount calculating section, so that the output of the money
amount calculating section becomes indicative of the balance of the
inserted money amount and the output of the card amount calculating
section becomes indicative of the balance of the card amount.
When subtraction of the necessary amount has been made in response to the
selling action in the card amount calculating section under the above
mentioned control of the subtraction controlling section, the first
write-controlling section writes the balance of the card amount as
indicated by the output of the card amount calculating section into the
card received by the card receiving section, namely, into the inserted
card. Thus, the amount recorded in the card is caused to decrease in
correspondence to the amount spent on the product. It is to be noted that
the balance of the inserted money amount, namely, the change is not
written into the card at this time. Therefore, the change can be returned
in cash through a conventionally known method. For example, with an
automatic vending machine that is capable of selling only a single product
for each insertion of money or a card (single product-vending type), the
balance of the inserted money amount indicated by the output of the money
amount calculating section may be automatically returned as the change
immediately after one selling action. On the other hand, with another
automatic vending machine that is capable of selling plural products in
succession for each insertion of money or a card (plural-product vending
type), the balance of the inserted money amount indicated by the output of
the money amount calculating section may be returned as the change in
response to the actuation of a return switch after one or more selling
actions. In either cases, the card being received by the card receiving
section may be automatically returned at the same time as the change is
returned.
When it is desired to have the inserted money amount written into the card,
the writing-instruction means, e.g. a switch, is caused to operate, in
response to which the second write-controlling section is caused to write
the sum of the outputs of the money and card amount calculating sections
into the card received by the card receiving section. The card is then
automatically returned. In this manner, the amount recorded in the prepaid
card can be additionally or cumulatively renewed. The operation of the
writing-instruction means may take place before the selling action, or
alternatively, it may take place after the selling action when it is not
requested to return the change in cash. If the operation of the
writing-instruction means takes place before the selling action, the
entire inserted money amount can be additionally recorded in the prepaid
card. If, on the other hand, the actuation takes place after the selling
action, the amount equivalent to the change can be additionally recorded
into the prepaid card. It is a matter of course that the amount equivalent
to the change can be returned in cash instead of being additionally
recorded into the prepaid card, in such a case where the change is
automatically returned in cash or it is requested to return the change in
cash.
prepaid card vending system according to the second aspect of the present
invention which includes a money device for identifying inserted money and
calculating an amount of the inserted money, a sale selecting section for
selecting a sale of a card in which amount information is recorded, a
selling section for performing a selling action for the card selected by
said sale selecting section, and a subtraction controlling section for,
when the selling action has been performed, effecting such control as to
subtract a selling price of a sold card from the amount of the inserted
money calculated by said money device, and the prepaid card vending system
comprises a card receiving section for receiving a card in which amount
information is recorded, a card amount reading section for reading the
amount information in the card received by said card receiving section,
writing-instruction means for instructing for writing of amount
information into the card, and a card amount writing section for, in
response to instruction of said writing-instruction means, writing a sum
of the amount of the inserted money calculated by said money device and an
amount read by said card amount reading section into the card and then
returning the card.
The prepaid card vending system according to the second aspect is concerned
with a prepaid card vending machine.
This prepaid card vending system can not only sell a prepaid card but also
receive a card by means of the card receiving section. When it is desired
to increase the amount recorded on an already issued card, both money and
the card are inserted, and the writing-instruction means is caused to
operate. The amount information recorded on the inserted card is read by
the card amount reading section, and the sum of the thus read card amount
and the inserted money amount is written into the card in response to the
operation of the writing-instruction means, the card being subsequently
returned. In this manner, conveniently, the prepaid card system can sell a
new prepaid card but also can additionally renew the amount on an already
issued prepaid card in a prepaid card vending system.
A vending card system according to the third aspect of the present
invention comprises a money device for identifying inserted money and
calculating an amount of the inserted money, a card receiving section for
receiving a card on which amount information is recorded, a card amount
reading section for reading the amount information recorded in the card
received by said card receiving section, an amount selecting section for
selecting an amount to be added to a card, writing-instruction means for
instructing for writing of amount information into the card, a card amount
writing section for, in response to instruction of said
writing-instruction means, writing a sum of the amount selected by said
amount selecting section and the amount read by said card amount reading
section and then returning the card, and a controlling section for
effecting such control as to subtract the amount selected by said amount
selecting section from the amount calculated by said money device to
return the balance as the change.
The vending system according to the third aspect is concerned with
automatic vending machines in general for which money and a prepaid card
can be used in combination and also with a prepaid card vending machine.
With this system, the amount to be added to a prepaid card can be selected
as desired by means of the amount selecting section. In response to
instruction of the writing-instruction means, the sum of the amount
recorded in the card and the amount selected by the amount selecting
section is written into the card. Then, the card is returned, and also the
difference between the inserted money amount and the amount selected by
the amount selecting section is returned as the change. In this manner, a
desired amount can be freely selected and then can be additionally written
into an already issued prepaid card.
Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference
to the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the accompanying drawings,
FIG. 1 is a front elevational view showing an embodiment of the present
invention used in an automatic vending machine for which both money and a
prepaid card can be used in combination;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing an example of a
control-circuit section of the vending machine of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is an example flowchart of processes in a case where functions
similar to those shown in FIG. 2 are performed by a microcomputer;
FIG. 4 is a front elevational view showing an embodiment of the invention
used in a prepaid card vending machine;
FIG. 5 is a block diagram schematically showing an example of a
control-circuit section of the vending machine shown in FIG. 4, and
FIG. 6 is a block diagram schematically showing another example of the
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
FIG. 1 shows an example of the present invention as embodied in a
conventionally-known automatic vending machine for which both money and a
prepaid card can be used, the automatic vending machine being shown here
in front elevation.
A coin mechanism 2, a paper money identifying machine 3 and a card
read/write mechanism 4 are provided at respective suitable locations in
the main body of the automatic vending machine 1. In the figure, 2a
denotes a coin inserting slot of the coin mechanism 2, 3a a paper money
inserting slot of the paper money identifying machine 3, and 4a a card
inserting slot of the card read/write mechanism 4. 5a-5n denote product
sale selection button switches, and 6 denotes a product discharging
opening. 7 denotes a return switch that is actuated to have inserted money
or change returned. Further, 2b denotes a coin returning opening.
The coin mechanism 2 may be the one having such known functions as
determining the genuineness of the coin (i.e., whether the coin is true or
false) introduced through the coin inserting slot 2a, counting the amount
of the inserted coin etc. Likewise, the paper money identifying machine 3
may be the one having such known functions as determining the genuineness
of the paper money (i.e., whether the paper money is true or false)
introduced through the paper money inserting slot 3a, counting the amount
of the introduced paper money etc. The card read/write mechanism 4 serves
to read amount information in a prepaid card inserted through the card
inserting slot 4a and to write amount information etc. into the card. The
prepaid card to be processed by the embodiment may be of a magnetic type,
an IC (integrated circuit) type, or any other types.
The encoding button switch 8 is provided for selecting writing of amount
information into the card.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing a control-circuit section
of the automatic vending machine shown in FIG. 1.
Referring to FIG. 2, the genuineness of a coin introduced through the coin
inserting slot 2a is determined by a coin identifying section 10, while
the genuineness of a paper money introduced through the paper money
inserting slot 3a is determined by a paper money identifying section 11.
An amount calculating section 12 serves to add up the amount of introduced
money based on the outputs of the identifying sections 10, 11 or to
subtract an amount corresponding to the selling price of a product so that
the balance of the inserted money can be obtained.
A prepaid card inserted from the card inserting slot 4a is introduced by a
card feeding mechanism 4b inside the card read/Write mechanism 4, during
which time identification information, amount information etc. recorded in
the card is read by a read/write device 4c. As is well known, the card is
immediately returned if it is not an acceptable card, but it is retained
in the feeding mechanism 4b if it is an acceptable card.
A card amount calculating section 13 inputs and temporarily stores amount
information of the card as read by the read/write device 4c. The card
calculating section 13 also subtracts from the stored amount an amount
corresponding to the selling price so that the balance of the card amount
can be obtained.
A sale controlling section 14 adds up the inserted money amount and the
card amount based on the outputs of the calculating sections 12, 13, and
it determines whether a sale of a product selected through the actuation
of any of the product selection button switches 5a-5n is permissible or
not. If the sale of the selected product has been determined as
permissible, the control section 14 controls a product delivering section
15 to initiate a necessary action for selling the selected product.
When the selling action has been done, a subtraction controlling section 16
controls the money amount calculating section 12 and the card amount
calculating section 13 in such a manner that an amount equivalent to the
selling price of the sold product is subtracted in at least one of the
calculating sections 12, 13. Such control may be made in any suitable
manner. For example, the selling price may be subtracted first or
preferentially from one of the cash amount and the card amount and then
the balance due, if any, may be subtracted from the other; or
alternatively, the selling price may be divided into two at a suitable
division ratio so that respective amounts may be subtracted from both of
the cash and card amount in accordance with the division ratio. As the
result of the subtraction, respective necessary amounts are subtracted in
the money amount calculating section 12 and the card amount calculating
section 13, so that the output of the money amount calculating section 12
becomes indicative of the balance of the inserted money and the output of
the card amount calculating section 13 becomes indicative of the balance
of the card amount.
When the selling action has been performed, and hence subtraction has been
performed in the card amount calculating section 13 under the control of
the subtraction controlling section 16, a first write-controlling section
17 controls the read/write device 4c for writing the balance of the card
amount indicated by the output of the card amount calculating section 13
into the card that is being retained by the card feeding mechanism 4b.
Thus, the amount recorded in the card is caused to decrease in
correspondence to the amount spent for the product. As described, when a
sale has been made, only the balance of the card amount is written into
the card, but the balance of the inserted money amount, namely, the amount
equivalent to the change is not additionally written in automatic manner.
Therefore, the balance of the inserted money amount indicated by the
output of the memory amount calculating section 12 can be returned as the
change in cash.
The return of the change in cash may be made through a conventionally known
method. For example, in a case where only a single product for each
insertion of money or a card is sold, the balance of the inserted money
amount indicated by the output of the money amount calculating section 12
may be automatically returned as the change immediately after one selling
action. On the other hand, in another case where plural products are sold
in succession for each insertion of money or a card, the balance of the
inserted money amount indicated by the output of the money amount
calculating section 12 may be returned as the change in response to the
actuation of the return switch 7 after one or more selling actions. In
either of the cases, the card that is being retained by the card feeding
mechanism 4b may be automatically returned at the same time as the change
is returned.
When the return switch 7 has been actuated, the inserted money is returned,
or the change, if any, is returned in cash. That is to say, in response to
the actuation of the return switch 7, a return controlling section 19
performs such control as for returning the balance of the inserted money
amount indicated by the money amount calculating section 12 as the change
in cash and also for automatically returning the card that is being
retained by the card feeding mechanism 4b.
The writing of the inserted money amount into the card is performed by a
second write-controlling section 18 only when the encoding button switch 8
has been actuated. When the encoding button switch 8 has been actuated,
the second write-controlling section 18 performs controls for writing the
sum of the outputs of the money amount calculating section 12 and the card
amount calculating section 13 into the card being retained by the card
feeding mechanism 4b and then automatically returning the card.
Therefore, when it is desired to additionally renew the amount of an
already issued card, the card is inserted along with money of the amount
to be added, and the encoding button switch 8 is actuated. Thus, the sum
of the current amount on the card and the inserted money amount is
obtained from the outputs of the calculating sections 12, 13, so that the
sum is written into the card under the control of the second
write-controlling section 18.
On the other hand, when it is desired to cancel a purchase after both a
prepaid card and money have been inserted, the return switch 7 is
actuated. In this case, the card is directly returned without its amount
being changed, and also the inserted money amount is directly returned in
cash. Accordingly, it becomes possible to forestall the inconveniences
that the card amount is additionally renewed automatically although such
additional renewal is not intended.
When any of the product sale selection button switches 5a-5n has been
selectively actuated without the encoding button switch 8 being actuated
after the insertion of a prepaid card and money of an amount to be added
to the card, a product selling action is performed in correspondence to
the total amount of the inserted card and money. As described, in the case
of a single product vending, the card is automatically returned after an
amount for the product sale has been subtracted therefrom. If there is any
change of an amount corresponding to the inserted money amount, such
change amount is not added to the card amount but returned in cash. On the
other hand, in the case of successive product vending, when the return
switch 7 has been operated, the card is automatically returned in response
to the actuation of the return switch 7 after an amount for the product
sale has been subtracted therefrom, and also the change corresponding to
the inserted money amount is returned in cash. Therefore, when the return
switch 7 has been actuated without the encoding button switch 8 being
actuated, the change amount corresponding to the inserted money amount is
prevented from being added to the card amount. On the other hand, in the
case of the successive product vending, when the encoding button switch 8
has been actuated prior to the actuation of the return switch 7, the sum
of the inserted money amount and the card amount is obtained by means of
the second controlling section 18 based on the outputs of the calculating
sections 12, 13, and then the obtained sum is written into the card. Thus,
the change amount corresponding to the inserted money amount is combined
into the card amount so that the card amount is additionally renewed
without the change being returned in cash.
As a modification, the actuation of the encoding button switch 8 may be
made effective only before the selling action is performed and it may be
made ineffective once the selling action has been performed. In such a
case, the change amount is prevented from being combined into the card
amount for additional renewal thereof.
When all or a portion of the inserted money amount is combined into the
card amount, other processes than normal sales management may be done. A
product sale managing section 20 serves to cumulatively record sales of
the products that have been sold in correspondence to the selection of the
product sale selection button switches 5a-5n, and it may be a
conventionally known product sale managing section. A card payment sale
managing section 21 manages such sales that results when all or a portion
of the inserted money amount has been combined into the card amount. In
this card payment sale managing section 21, data related to the contents
written into the card by the second write-controlling section 18 is
recorded. The recording may be done in any suitable manner. Most simply,
the output of the money amount calculating section 12 may be recorded as
card payment sale data. This means that that portion of the inserted money
amount which has been combined into the card amount and recorded in the
card is cumulatively recorded in the card payment sale managing section
21. The cumulative recording may be done by recording the individual
amount for each sale, or by accumulating the respective amounts one by
one.
Circuits corresponding to respective blocks shown in FIG. 2 may be
substituted by discrete circuits or by a microcomputer that is capable of
fulfilling the above described functions
If the calculating and controlling sections shown in FIG. 2 are substituted
by a microcomputer that fulfills the above described functions, an example
of various processes performed by the microcomputer will be as shown in
FIG. 3. The processes shown in FIG. 3 are concerned with the successive
vending.
Referring to FIG. 3, first of all, it is examined in step 30 whether or not
money or a card has been inserted. If the examination result is YES, the
flow moves to step 31, in which the inserted money or card is identified.
If the inserted money or card has been turned out to be acceptable,
counting of the money amount or reading of the card amount is performed so
that the inserted amount is obtained. If unacceptable, the money or card
is returned. If the examination result in step 30 is NO, or after step 31
has been performed, step 32 is taken in which it is examined whether or
not the sum TM of the inserted money and card amounts, namely, the balance
of the inserted amount is other than zero. If there is no balance, the
flow returns to step 30 and another insertion of money or a card is
awaited. If there is balance, step 33 is taken.
In step 33, it is examined whether or not any of the product sale selection
button switches 5a-5n has been actuated. If none of the switches 5a-5n has
been actuated, the result in step 33 becomes NO, and then the flow
advances to step 34 in which it is examined whether or not the return
switch 7 has been actuated. If the return switch 7 has not been actuated,
the flow advances to step 35 in which it is examined whether or not the
encoding button switch 8 has been actuated. If the encoding button switch
8 has not been actuated, the flow returns to step 30. Thus, if there is
any balance of the inserted money or card amount, the routine of steps 33,
34, 35 is repeated until any of the switches is actuated.
If any of the product sale selection button switches 5a-5n has been
actuated, the result in step 33 becomes YES, and then the flow advances to
step 36 in which it is examined whether or not the selling price PR of the
selected product is equivalent to or less than the sum TM of the amounts
of the inserted money and card. If the examination result is YES, step 37
is taken in which the selling action, namely, delivery of the selected
product is done. If the examination result in step 37 is NO, the flow
returns to step 30 in which additional insertion of money or a card is
awaited. After step 37, such subtraction control is made in step 38 that
the necessary amounts corresponding to the selling price are subtracted
respectively from the inserted money and card amounts. This subtraction
control corresponds to the control done by the subtraction controlling
section 16 shown in FIG. 2. Next, in step 39, the balance of the card
amount is written into the card. This card writing process corresponds to
the control done by the first write-controlling section 17. Then, the flow
returns to step 30.
When the return switch 7 has been actuated, the result in step 34 becomes
YES, and then step 40 is taken for returning in cash the change
corresponding to the inserted money amount and also the card. The
processes in this step 40 corresponds to the control done by the return
controlling section 19 shown in FIG. 2.
When the encoding button switch 8 has been actuated, the result in step 35
becomes YES, then step 41 is taken in which the sum of the inserted money
amount and the current card amount is written into the card, and thence
the card is returned. This process in step 41 corresponds to the control
done by the second write-controlling section 18 shown in FIG. 2.
It is now to be noted that in the embodiment of FIG. 1, the card read/write
mechanism 4 need not be separately provided if the money identifying
machine 3 itself has a card read/write function.
Although the embodiment in FIG. 1 is a generally-known vending machine, a
novel prepaid card vending machine can be provided by which the amount of
an already issued card can be additionally renewed, if the present
invention is embodied therein. FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of such machine.
In FIG. 4, 51 denotes a main body of the prepaid card vending machine, 2
denotes a coin mechanism, 2a a coin inserting slot, 2b a coin returning
opening, 3 a money identifying machine, 3a a paper money inserting slot,
45a-45n card sale selection button switches, 46 a card discharging
opening, and 7 a return switch. In this prepaid card vending machine, a
card read/write mechanism 4 is newly provided along with an encoding
button switch 8. 4a denotes a card inserting slot. In FIG. 4, elements
indicated by the same reference numerals as in FIG. 1 have the same
functions as those in FIG. 1. The card sale selection button switches
45a-45n are provided for selecting a prepaid card of a desired amount, a
prepaid card of the selected amount being discharged through the card
discharging opening 46.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of the control-c | | |
