JPH097003A - Automatic ticket vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] To provide an automatic ticket vending machine that displays that a special ticket is on sale and that can automatically purchase the special ticket by normal operation. [Structure] The main unit 1 that performs ticketing processing in response to passengers' operations and the discount setter 2 that can set the sale time zone of the discount ticket are connected, and the set discount ticket release date and sale time zone are set. Is compared with the current date and the current time, and the discount signal ENBL is output to the main unit 1 if the set conditions are met.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic ticket vending machine for issuing train tickets for railroads and buses, and more particularly to automatically issuing all tickets including special tickets such as discount tickets. About automatic ticket vending machines that can.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for the purpose of passenger service,
Special tickets such as daytime discount tickets and holiday discount tickets were on sale. And these special tickets were not sold at the automatic ticket vending machines because of limited complexity of the time of sale and different discount rates, but they were sold exclusively at the clerk's window. Therefore, the passengers had to go to the clerk's desk and confirm whether or not the discount ticket was on sale before starting the purchase procedure.

[0003]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, it is troublesome to go to the clerk's desk, and in order to ensure passenger service, it is preferable that the special ticket can be sold at an automatic ticket vending machine. . The present invention has been made in view of this problem, and it is displayed that the special ticket is on sale, and the special ticket can be automatically purchased by a normal operation. The purpose is to provide an automatic ticket vending machine that can.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, an automatic ticket vending machine according to the present invention can set a main body device for issuing a ticket in response to a customer's operation and a sale time zone of a special ticket. The setting device is configured to be connected with a special setting device, and the setting device constantly measures the current date and time with the condition setting means capable of arbitrarily setting the sale date and the sale time zone of the special ticket. A time measuring means and a judging means for comparing the set special ticket release date and sale time zone with the current date and time and outputting a sale enable signal to the main unit when the set conditions are met. And the main body device,
Issuing processing of the corresponding ticket by searching one of the two tables based on the sale enable signal, a first table that stores fee information related to ordinary tickets, a second table that stores fee information related to special tickets And ticket issuing means for performing. Here, the normal ticket typically means a normal ticket for a train or a bus, but also includes an amusement park vehicle ticket and other venue admission tickets. A special ticket is typically
It refers to a holiday discount ticket or daytime discount ticket for a train or bus, but is not limited to this. In addition, the release date of the special ticket may be designated individually for each day, or may be designated all at once for a specific day of the week. Further, it is preferable that the ticket issuing process performed by the main body device is accompanied by a display indicating that the special ticket is on sale or not on sale.

[0005]

The present invention will be described in more detail based on the following examples. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the appearance of an automatic ticket vending machine according to the present invention, showing a front view (a) and a rear view (b), respectively. This automatic ticket vending machine sells train tickets for trains and buses, and the main unit 1 that performs ticketing processing in response to passengers' operations and the discount setting in which the clerk sets the discount ticket sales time zone, etc. It is configured with a container 2. The main body device 1 is covered by a customer service panel 1a provided on the front surface, a staff panel 1b on the upper rear surface, a rear door 1c on the central rear surface, and the like.

[Structure of Main Unit 1] As shown in FIG. 1 (a), on the customer service panel 1a, there is a guide display section 3 on which a route name and a fare table are displayed, a coin slot 4a, and a bill slot 5.
a, a card insertion slot 6a for a prepaid card, a number designation switch 7 for designating the number of purchased tickets, an amount selection switch 8 for designating the amount of a ticket to be purchased, a discharge port 9a for discharging a ticket or change, and a deposit amount A customer service display device 10 for displaying information such as operation guides and the like is provided. On the other hand, on the staff panel 1b on the upper rear side, there is a staff indicator 12 for displaying the operating status of the ticket vending machine and the transaction status with passengers, and permission switches 16a and 16b for setting whether or not the discount ticket can be sold. It is provided. As shown in the internal block diagram of FIG. 2, the main body device 1 includes a control unit 11 that controls the entire ticket issuing process.
And a memory 13 that stores programs and data
And a discount signal output unit 14 and various input / output devices, and the input / output devices and the control unit 11 are connected by an input / output bus 15. Here, the control unit 11
RA for storing program ROM and release data
It is composed of M and a CPU. Also, the memory 13
Shows the normal fare table 13a that stores the fare for a normal ticket, the special fare table 13b that stores the fare for a discounted ticket, and the screen information of the customer service indicator 10 and the clerk indicator 12. It is composed of a screen memory 13c which is stored.

The discount signal output section 14 is a section for instructing the control section 11 whether or not to sell the discount ticket, and the output level thereof is ON / O of the permission / prohibition switches 16a and 16b.
FF state and discount signal ENBL input from discount setter 2
It depends on the level of. In addition, input / output devices connected to the input / output bus 15 include a coin processing device 4, a banknote processing device 5, a card processing device 6, and a printing ticket issuing device 9, each of which is the coin insertion slot 4a and the banknote insertion slot described above. 5a, the card insertion slot 6a, and the discharge slot 9a. The coin processing device 4, the banknote processing device 5, the card processing device 6, and the printing ticket issuing device 9 are the rear door 1 of the rear central portion.
It is placed in a position where c is opened. The control unit 11, the memory 13, and the setting signal output unit 14 are the same as those of the staff display unit 1.
It is arranged at the position of the staff panel 1b together with the 2 and the permission switch 16.

[Structure of Discount Setting Device 2] As shown in the internal block diagram of FIG. 3, the discount setting device 2 is a memory 17 that stores programs, calendar data for several years, and the like.
And a variable display 18 for displaying various guide screens, etc.
And the touch sensor 1 provided on the screen of the variable display 18.
9 and a timekeeping device 2 that functions as a reference clock for an automatic ticket vending machine
0 and a CPU 21 that controls the operation of each unit and outputs a discount signal ENBL. One of the features of the automatic ticket vending machine is that the discount time zone, the discount day of the week, etc. can be freely set and changed by the discount setter 2. Next, the operation contents of the discount setter 2 will be described. The operation modes of the discount setting device 2 include a normal operation mode and a discount condition setting mode. In the discount condition setting mode, discount conditions such as a discount day, a discount day of the week, and a discount time zone can be set. However, the discount setting device 2 is normally in the normal operation mode, and the variable display 18 displays the screen as shown in FIG. That is, currently, 199
It is 13:30 on Friday, May 5, 1993, and the holiday discount ticket is on sale (ready for sale), but the daytime discount ticket is on sale.

[Discount condition setting mode]
In order to change from the normal operation mode to the discount condition setting mode, it is necessary to touch the "menu field" 30 at the upper right of the screen of the variable display 18 in the state as shown in FIG. Then, the touch sensor 19 detects that fact, and the CPU 21
Displays the menu screen as shown in FIG. 5 on the variable display 18. Here, a "date setting field" 31a, a "time setting field" 31b, and a "time setting field" 31c are provided in the center of the menu screen, and in the upper right corner of the menu screen. , "ESC" to return to the previous screen (Fig. 4)
A “column” 32 is provided. Setting fields 31a, 31b, 3
1c is a column for setting a discount date, a discount time zone, and a current time, respectively. For example, when the “date setting field” 31a is touched in the state of FIG.
Displays the calendar screen for the current month. The example of FIG. 6 shows an example in which the holidays of the 3rd to 5th and other Sundays are highlighted (indicated by diagonal lines) on the calendar for May 1995, and the discount date has already been specified. ing.

Before the discount date is set, or when the discount date is changed, the discount date is set by the following operation, for example. If a discount ticket is issued on Sunday, the position of Sunday in the "day of the week" 33 on the calendar screen may be touched. Then, depending on the operation of the CPU 21, 7th, 14th,
The 21st and 28th are highlighted all at once. Further, if the issue of the discounted ticket is set for each day, it is sufficient to touch the relevant days one after another. In addition, in order to deal with changes in the discount date and mistakes in pressing, every time you touch the same part,
The display is switched between reverse display and normal display.
After setting or changing the discount date in this way,
When the “SET column” 34b is touched, the CPU 21 stores the discount date in the memory 17 based on the screen state at that time. If you want to set the discount dates for April and June following the May processing, touch the "last month column" 34c and the "next month column" 34d, respectively. The same operation may be performed after changing the. Then, by touching the "ESC column" 34a, it is possible to return to the menu screen (FIG. 5). In the above explanation,
Although the case where the discount date is artificially set has been described as an example, for example, a holiday and a Sunday discount (holiday discount) may be programmed in advance.

When the "time setting field" 31b is touched on the menu screen shown in FIG. 5, the variable display section 18 is brought into the state shown in FIG. This screen is a screen for setting the sale time zone of the discount ticket, and includes "hour column" 35a and "minute column" 35.
b, "setting number column" 36, "ESC column" 37, and "S"
An “ET column” 38 is provided. In the time setting screen shown in FIG. 7, the sale time zone of the discount ticket can be set separately for weekdays and holidays.
In the "hour column" 35a and the "minute column" 35b, all the lines are blank. Also, the “setting number column” 36 does not appear. In such a state, for example, when the "time column" 35a on the top line is touched, in response to this, a new "setting number column" 36 appears on the bottom line of the screen, and 0-9
Is displayed. In this state, for example, "1""0"
When is pressed, "10" is entered in the "time column" 35a on the top line. Similarly, if "0" or "0" of the "setting number column" 36 is pressed after touching the "minute column" 35b on the top line, "00" is set in the "minute column" 35b. In the same manner, the "time column" 35a and the "minute column" 3a in the second to fourth lines
5b, "16""00","00""0"
The numbers "0", "23" and "59" are entered, and finally "SET column"
When you touch 38, the sale time of the discount ticket will be in memory 17
Is set to In this example, a discount ticket is sold from 10:00 to 16:00 on weekdays (daytime discount) and 00 on holidays.
Discount tickets will be on sale all day from 0:00 to 23:59.

When the setting of the discount time zone is completed by the above operation, the "ESC column" 37 may be touched to return to the menu screen of FIG. When the “time setting field” 31c is touched on the menu screen of FIG. 5, the time can be set for the timekeeping device 20 (the time setting screen is omitted). The time is typically set when the power of the automatic ticket vending machine is turned on, but it is also carried out thereafter as necessary to prevent the time shift of the timekeeping device 20.

[Normal Operation Mode] Next, the operation contents of the discount setting device 2 in the normal operation mode will be described. When the discount setter 2 is in the normal operation mode, the CPU 21 reads out the current date, day of the week, and time from the clock device 20, and displays this on the variable display 18. Also, CPU2
In step 1, the current month calendar stored in the memory 17 is searched to verify whether the current day is a ticket discount day. Similarly, the memory 17 is searched to determine whether or not the current time is a time slot in which the discount ticket can be sold. And if the current time corresponds to a daytime discount,
This is displayed on the variable display section 18. Similarly, when the current day corresponds to a holiday discount day and corresponds to the discount ticket sale time zone set on the screen of FIG. 7, the fact is displayed on the variable display section 18 (see FIG. 4). ). When the holiday discount or the daytime discount is applied, the CPU 21 also outputs the discount signal ENBL to the discount signal output unit 14 of the main body device 1. The discount signal output unit 14 is a circuit that outputs the input discount signal ENBL to the input / output bus 15 only when the availability switch 16 is in the ON state. Here, one permission switch 16a corresponds to a holiday discount, and the other permission switch 16b corresponds to a daytime discount mode.
Then, by turning off the permission switches 16a and 16b, the output of the discount signal ENBL can be prohibited. Therefore, when a special situation occurs and the user wants to temporarily stop the discount,
This can be dealt with only by a simple operation of the permission / prohibition switch 16.

[Operation of Main Body Device 1] The control unit 11 of the main body device 1 determines whether or not the discount ticket can be released based on the output of the discount signal output unit 14, and when the discount ticket is to be released, displays the customer service. A message to that effect is displayed on the container 10 (FIG. 8). When the passenger operates to purchase a ticket, the control unit 11
Searches the special fare table 13b and controls the printing ticket issuing device 9 to print and issue the corresponding discount ticket. If a change is required, the change ticket is discharged to the discharge port 9a together with the discount ticket. Discount signal ENBL from discount setter 2
Is not output or the permission switch 16 is in the OFF state, the automatic ticket vending machine operates as a normal ticket vending machine. That is, the control unit 11 searches the normal fare table 13a in response to the passenger's ticket purchase operation and controls the printing ticket issuing device 9 to control the normal fare table 13a.
Print and issue a normal ticket based on. Although the automatic ticket vending machine for issuing a ticket has been described in this embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this and can be applied to other ticket vending machines. Although only the special tickets for weekday discount and holiday discount have been described, the present invention can be applied to the processing for issuing other special tickets. Further, the discount setting device 2 may be installed inside the main body device 1.

[0015]

As described above, the automatic ticket vending machine according to the present invention comprises the main body device and the setting device connected to each other, and the setting device is provided with the condition setting means, the time measuring means and the judging means.
Since the main body device is provided with the first table, the second table and the ticket issuing means, the special ticket can be automatically issued in response to the operation of the customer.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the appearance of an automatic ticket vending machine.

FIG. 2 is an internal block diagram of a main body device.

FIG. 3 is an internal block diagram of a discount setting device.

FIG. 4 is a display content of a variable display in a normal operation mode.

FIG. 5 is a menu screen in a condition setting mode.

FIG. 6 is a screen for setting a discount date.

FIG. 7 is a screen when setting a discount time zone.

FIG. 8 is a screen of a customer service display indicating that a holiday discount ticket is on sale.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 main device 2 discount setting device (setting device) 11 control unit (ticket issuing means) 13a normal fare table (first table) 13b special fare table (second table) 16 permission switch (opening / closing switch) 17 memory (condition setting device, Judgment means) 18 Variable display (condition setting means) 19 Touch sensor (condition setting means) 20 Timing device (time measuring means) 21 CPU (condition setting means, judgment means) ENBL Discount signal (releaseable signal)

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A main body device which performs a ticket issuing process in response to a customer's operation and a setting device capable of setting a sale time zone of a special ticket are connected, and the setting device is a special ticket. The condition setting means that can arbitrarily set the sale date and the sale time zone, the time keeping means that always keeps the current date and time, and the set special ticket release date and sale time zone are the current date and time. And a judging means for outputting a sale enable signal to the main body device when the set conditions are met in comparison with the current time, and the main body device stores a first table for storing fee information regarding ordinary tickets. And a second storing fee information regarding the special ticket
An automatic ticket vending machine, comprising: a table; and ticket issuing means for searching one of the two tables on the basis of the sale enable signal to issue a ticket. 2. The opening / closing switch for prohibiting the output of the sale enable signal is further provided, and the processing contents of the ticket issuing means are forcibly switched by the opening / closing switch. Automatic ticket vending machine as described. 3. The setting device includes a variable display section on which a screen for supporting the setting work is displayed, and a touch sensor provided on the variable display section, and the setting work is performed only by a touch operation on the screen. The automatic ticket vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the vending machine can be completed. 4. The regular ticket is a regular ticket for a train or a bus, and the special ticket is a holiday discount ticket or a daytime discount ticket. Automatic ticket vending machine as described.