JPH06203231A - Unmanned card issuing device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] An unattended ticketing machine that can issue the membership card necessary to use the automatic rental machine installed at a rental store such as video tapes and compact discs unattended. To suggest. [Structure] The unmanned ticket issuing machine 1 is installed at each branch, and while reading the application form with the image scanner 2,
The still camera 5 is used to photograph the applicants. These pieces of information are transmitted to the head office side via the communication line 4, and the approval / disapproval of issuance of the membership card is performed on the head office side. In the discrimination circuit mechanism 21 of the unmanned ticket issuing machine, when the issuing permission instruction signal from the headquarters side and the signal indicating that the admission fee has been input, the card issuing machine 24 is driven to issue the membership card. I do. If this unmanned ticket issuing machine 1 is used, it is not necessary to have a person resident at each branch in order to issue a membership card.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an unmanned ticket issuing apparatus for a membership card necessary for using an automatic rental machine installed in an automatic rental store for video cassettes, compact discs, magazines and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Rental shops for video cassettes, compact discs, etc. are frequently used. In such rental shops, automatic rental machines are often installed due to lack of manpower and accompanying rise in personnel costs.
Even if an automatic rental machine is installed, in most cases, the issuance of a membership card for using it is dependent on manpower. This is a factor that hinders the reduction of labor and labor costs at rental stores.

[0003]

Therefore, if the procedure for issuing such a membership card can also be made unmanned, manpower and hence personnel costs can be reduced, which is preferable. In particular, in recent years, there are many customers who use the rental shop at midnight, and it is preferable that the membership card issuance procedure can be made unattended so that a complete 24-hour business can be performed.

In view of this point, an object of the present invention is to eliminate the need to have a person resident at each branch for the procedure for issuing a membership card for using an automatic rental machine.

[0005]

In order to solve the above problems, in the present invention, the membership card is issued by an unmanned ticket issuing device. The unmanned ticket issuing apparatus of the present invention is an image reading means for reading the identification of the applicant and the application form, for example, an image scanner, a transmitting means for transmitting the read information to the side of the headquarters, and a side of the headquarters. Receiving means for receiving an instruction signal for instructing approval or disapproval of ticket issuance, admission fee acceptance means for accepting admission fee, and approval or disapproval of ticket issuance based on the instruction signal supplied from the receiving means and the signal from admission fee acceptance means. It basically comprises a judging means for judging and a member card issuing means for issuing a membership card based on the judgment result of the judging means.

[0006] In order to surely confirm the identity of the applicant, the unmanned ticket issuing device is provided with a photographing means for photographing the applicant.
For example, it is desirable that a still camera or a prop camera be built-in so that a person who wants to join the membership can be photographed so that it can be compared with an identification card such as a driver's license on the side of the headquarters.

[0007] In addition, since video tapes and the like lent out by automatic rental machines include those for which minors are prohibited from lending, the ticket issuing means issues both adult and minor membership cards. It is desirable to be able to do so.
In order to do so, it is necessary to carry the information indicating the type of card to be issued in the instruction signal regarding the approval or disapproval of ticket issuance sent from the head office side.

Generally, each video rental store in which the unmanned ticket issuing device having the above-mentioned configuration is installed is connected to the head office by a communication line, and the head office gives each branch an instruction regarding whether or not to issue a ticket. Sent.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

First, FIG. 1 shows the appearance of an unmanned ticket issuing machine installed in each video rental shop. As shown in this figure, the unmanned ticket issuing machine 1 has an image scanner 2 incorporated in the front surface thereof. On the back surface of the cover 2a of the image scanner 2, information regarding the operation procedure is described. If the applicant wishes to join, attach an identification card such as a driver's license to the designated field of the application form 3 (see Fig. 2) on the equipment and have it read by the image scanner 2, the read information will be It is adapted to be transmitted to the head office 100 at a remote place via the communication line 4. Further, a still camera 5 is built in a position above the image scanner 2 so that a person who wants to join the membership standing in this position can be photographed. The photographed information is transmitted to the head office 100 side together with the information read by the image scanner.

At the upper part of the front surface of the unmanned ticket issuing machine 1, there are arranged a ready lamp 6, a ticket issuing lamp 7 and a ticket issuing completion lamp 8 for displaying an operation state. In addition, a minor card issuing slot 9 and an adult card issuing slot 10 are arranged at intermediate positions. In addition, image scanner 2
An admission fee slot 11 is arranged at a position below, and a printer output port 12 is arranged at a position below it.

Further, on the front surface of the automatic ticket issuing machine 1 of this example,
Headquarters communication button 1 for contacting the headquarters 100 side
3, a microphone 14 for the applicant to contact the head office, and a speaker 15 for the contact and operation instruction from the head office to the applicant. In addition to this, a detector 16 is installed to detect that a person who wants to join is approaching the unmanned ticket issuing machine 1.

It should be noted that the unmanned ticket issuing machine 1 having this structure is the head office 1
00 is installed in each of a plurality of branch offices connected to each other via a communication line (see FIG. 2).

FIG. 2 schematically shows the internal construction of the automatic ticket issuing machine 1 of this example together with the control system. The control system is mainly composed of the microcomputer 20, and the ticket issuing operation described later is performed according to a built-in control program. A determination circuit mechanism 21 is formed by the computer 20, and a signal indicating that the admission fee has been input from the deposit processing machine 22 is input to the determination circuit mechanism 21. Further, from the side of the head office 100, an instruction signal for instructing whether to issue a ticket is input via the communication line 4 and the modem 23. The determination circuit mechanism 21 determines whether or not to issue a ticket based on these signals. When permitting ticketing, a ticketing signal is supplied to the card issuing machine 24. The card issuing machine 24 of this example includes a ticket issuing section 24a for a minor card and a ticket issuing section 24b for an adult card.
It has both. On the other hand, the printer 25 is supplied with the information read by the image scanner 2, and the hard copy 3a of the application form is printed out.

Here, on the side of the head office 100, a facsimile 101 is installed as a receiving means for receiving the information transmitted from the side of the branch. There is a resident at the head office, which confirms the information sent and sends an instruction signal regarding the approval or disapproval of ticketing to the branch office via a facsimile.

Next, the ticket issuing operation by the unmanned ticket issuing machine 1 of this example will be described with reference to the schematic flow chart of FIG. First, when an applicant for membership stands in front of the unmanned ticket issuing machine 1, the detector 1
This is detected by 6 (step ST1). When detected, an operation is instructed by voice through the speaker 15 (step ST2). The operation content is also displayed on the back surface 2a of the cover of the image scanner 2. According to these instructions, if the applicant wishes to enter the name and address on the application form 3 provided, attach the driver's license and install it on the image scanner 2, the application form 3 will be applied by this image scanner 2. Is read. At the same time, the built-in still camera 5 captures an image of the applicant (step ST3).

The reading information of the membership application form 3 and the photographing information of the applicant for membership are transmitted to the head office 100 side via the modem 23 and the communication line 4 (step ST4).
The resident at the head office 100 side confirms the information sent. That is, the membership application form and the photograph of the applicant are checked to see if they meet the membership criteria and if they are who they are. When permitting admission, a ticketing permission signal is transmitted to the branch office via the communication line 4 together with the type of card to be issued (either a minor card or an adult card in this example) ( Step ST
5). If you do not permit the issue, leave it as it is.

In the unmanned ticket issuing machine 1 on the branch side, when the issuing permission signal is received within a preset time, the applicant is requested to insert the entrance fee through the speaker 15. Instruct (step ST6). When the issuance permission signal is not received within the time, the fact that the ticket is not issued is reported to the applicant for enrollment via the speaker 15 (step ST10), and thereafter the process is terminated.

Next, when the deposit money is inserted from the coin slot 11 within a certain time after the deposit is instructed, the determination circuit mechanism 21 sends a signal indicating that from the deposit processor 22.
Is supplied to. The ticket issuing permission signal transmitted from the headquarters side is also supplied to the determination circuit mechanism 21, and when both of these are supplied, a ticket issuing instruction signal is supplied to the card issuing machine 24 (step ST8). . In this example, when the issuance of the minor card 25a is instructed, the issuing unit 24a is driven, and when the issuance of the adult card 25b is instructed, the issuing unit 24b is driven (step ST9). The issued membership card is issued to the applicant for membership through the ticket issuing ports 9 and 10, respectively.

If the admission fee has not been received within a certain period of time, it is determined that the admission has been withdrawn, and the processing is terminated without performing the ticket issuing operation.

Here, although the applicant for membership is eligible for membership, there may be a case where the ticket is not issued because, for example, there is no notification from the headquarters. For such a case, in the present example, a head office communication button 13 is installed, and a member who wants to join can call the head office side to respond by pressing the button 13.

As described above, in the unmanned ticket issuing machine 1 of this embodiment, the image scanner and the still camera are used to
Since the identity of the applicant is checked, the eligibility for membership can be accurately determined.

Further, instead of the image scanner, for example, a copying machine may be installed in a branch office, and a membership application form copied by the copying machine may be transmitted to the head office by using a facsimile provided. However, since the branch office is unmanned, there is a possibility that harmful effects such as unauthorized use of the copying machine may occur. On the other hand, in this example, since the membership application is read by the built-in image scanner, there is an advantage that such unauthorized use can be prevented.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, each rental store side reads the application form of the applicant for membership by the image reading means such as an image scanner and automatically transmits it to the headquarters side. The membership card can be automatically issued by each rental shop based on the result of the determination, by having the resident at the head office determine whether or not to admit membership. Therefore, each rental store can automatically issue a membership card, so that each rental store can be completely unmanned.

Further, since the unmanned ticket issuing machine of the present invention is provided with a photographing means such as a still camera and a floppy camera for the applicant, the head office confirms the identity of the applicant and confirms that the person is the applicant. There is also an advantage that the confirmation can be surely performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of an unmanned ticket issuing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an internal configuration of the unmanned ticket issuing machine of FIG. 1 together with a control system.

3 is a flowchart showing an outline of a ticket issuing operation of the unmanned ticket issuing machine of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... Unmanned ticket issuing machine 2 ... Image scanner 3 ... Enrollment application form 4 ... Communication line 5 ... Still camera 6, 7, 8 ... Lamp 9, 10 ... Ticketing port 11・ ・ ・ Coin slot 12 ・ ・ ・ Print output port 13 ・ ・ ・ Headquarters communication button 14 ・ ・ ・ Microphone 15 ・ ・ ・ Speaker 16 ・ ・ ・ Detector 20 ・ ・ ・ Microcomputer 21 ・ ・ ・ Discrimination circuit mechanism 22 ... Deposit processing machine 23 ... Modem 24 ... Card issuing machine 100 ... Headquarters

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An unmanned ticket issuing device for issuing a membership card necessary for using an automatic rental machine such as a video cassette, a compact disc, a magazine, etc. installed in a branch. An image reading means for reading the identification card of the person together with the application form for enrollment, a transmitting means for transmitting the read information to the side of the headquarters,
Receiving means for receiving an instruction signal instructing whether to issue a ticket transmitted from the head office side, admission fee acceptance means for accepting an admission fee, instruction signal supplied from the receiving means and a signal from the admission fee acceptance means Based on the judgment result of the judgment means for judging whether to permit ticketing based on this,
An unattended ticket issuing device, comprising: a membership card issuing means for issuing a membership card. 2. The image pickup device according to claim 1, further comprising a photographing means for photographing a person who wants to join, and the photographing information together with the information read by the image reading means for confirming the identity of the person who wants to join. An unattended ticket issuing device, which is transmitted to the head office side via the. 3. The automatic ticket issuing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image reading unit is an image scanner. 4. The automatic ticket issuing apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising output means for outputting information read by the image scanner as a hard copy. 5. The membership card issuing means according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the membership card issuing means can issue different types of membership cards, and the instruction signal transmitted from the headquarters side includes: The unmanned ticket issuing apparatus is characterized in that it also includes information for instructing the type of membership card to be issued, and the membership card issuing means can issue a membership card of the type instructed by the headquarters. 6. The unmanned ticket issuing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the different types of membership cards are an adult membership card and a minor membership card. 7. A video cassette, a compact disc,
It has a plurality of branches where automatic rental machines such as magazines are installed, and a head office connected to these branches via communication lines, in order to use the automatic rental machines installed there. An unattended ticket issuing device is installed to issue the membership card required for, and the unattended ticket issuing device takes an image of the applicant's identification card together with the application form and photographs the applicant. And an output means for outputting the information read by the image scanner as a hard copy for the applicant for membership, and the information read by the image scanner and the information photographed by the imaging means to the headquarters side. A transmitting means, a receiving means for receiving an instruction signal instructing whether or not to issue a ticket transmitted from the head office side, an admission fee acceptance means for accepting an admission fee, Based on an instruction signal supplied from the receiving means and a signal from the admission fee receiving means, a determining means for determining whether or not to issue a ticket, and a membership card issuing operation for issuing a membership card based on the determination result of the determining means The head office comprises a receiving means for receiving the information transmitted from the branch side, and a transmitting means for transmitting an instruction signal instructing the branch side whether or not to issue the membership card. An unattended ticketing system that is characterized by