JPH11272898A - Charge collection device and charge collection method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To provide a toll collection device that can collectively input a plurality of sheets required for toll collection processing at a toll road exit. SOLUTION: A paper sheet separation unit 2 for separating a plurality of different kinds of paper sheets which are inserted collectively from one insertion slot one by one.
And a sheet sorting unit 3 for sorting the separated sheets by type, a pass ticket processing unit 4 for processing the pass ticket sorted by the sheet sorting unit 3, and a sheet sorting unit 3, a prepaid card processing unit 5 for processing the prepaid cards distributed by the third party, and a postpaid card processing unit 6 for processing the postpaid cards distributed by the paper sheet sorting unit 3.
Are provided.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a toll collection device used for toll roads such as expressways and toll bridges.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, as a toll collection system for toll payment on a toll road, a so-called open system having only one checkpoint provided for payment of tolls, a checkpoint system, and the like. , A so-called closed system having at least two locations.

The closing system is applied to, for example, a highway for traveling a long distance, and issues a toll ticket at an entrance gate through which the vehicle passes when entering the highway. This is an entrance ticketing / exit collection system that collects a toll according to the distance the vehicle has traveled on the highway and the type of vehicle at the exit gate that passes when exiting the road.

[0004] The open system is applied to, for example, toll roads near the Tokyo metropolitan area (such as the Tokyo Metropolitan Expressway) and toll bridges, and collects a certain toll at an entrance gate through which vehicles enter the toll road. There is no gate at the exit of
This is a system that allows vehicles to pass as it is.

As a specific example of the above-mentioned closed system, there is a magnetic card type toll collection system. This magnetic card type toll collection system, for example, at the entrance gate of an interchange on a highway, a passport issuing device records the information of the interchange at this entrance gate, that is, the entrance gate information for specifying the entrance gate. The card is issued as a passport, and at the exit gate, the passport held by the driver of the vehicle is passed through a passport reader to read the magnetically recorded entrance information on the passport and the toll is calculated from the entrance information. Then, the amount is presented to the driver, and a toll is collected using cash, a highway card, or the like.

Incidentally, in such a magnetic card type toll collection system, the exit gate is being unmanned. Currently, the toll collection device used in the unmanned toll road exit system has a dedicated insertion slot for each ticket such as toll tickets, prepaid cards such as highway cards, and postpay cards such as credit cards. In addition, they are provided in a plurality of stages such as an upper stage, a middle stage, and a lower stage according to the height of the vehicle.

[0007]

The above-mentioned paper sheets are different in material, thickness, outer shape, etc., and a gate roller is simply provided with a certain clearance so as to be widely used for separating media having the same thickness. It is difficult to separate them by the method of facing them. For this reason, the toll collection device used in the unmanned toll road exit system cannot perform the batch input processing of the paper sheets, and provides a dedicated insertion port for each paper sheet. . As a result, the driver
Each of the paper sheets must be confirmed and inserted separately so as not to make a mistake in the insertion holes, in the insertion holes dedicated to each paper sheet arranged in a plurality of stages according to the height of each vehicle.

The present invention has been made in view of such a point, and has a common insertion slot for each sheet, and collectively inputs a plurality of sheets required for the fee collection processing. It is an object of the present invention to provide a toll collection device and method capable of doing so.

[0009]

That is, according to the present invention, there is provided a toll collection device for collecting tolls based on a plurality of sheets of different types inserted to pay a usage fee. A sheet processing means provided for each type of leaf and performing a process for collecting a fee unique to each type, an insertion slot into which the different types of paper are collectively inserted, A separating unit that separates the sheets inserted in a lump from the mouth one by one according to the type thereof; and the sheet processing unit that separates the sheets separated by the separating unit according to the type. Distributing means for distributing crabs.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the toll collection device according to the first aspect, the separating means takes in the paper sheets inserted from the insertion port at a time, and each of the paper sheets taken at the same time. Means for aligning the trailing edge of the class, sheet length detecting means for detecting the length of the sheet length of the sheet aligned for the trailing end, and one sheet of the sheet aligned for the trailing end according to the length of the sheet. And a thickness detecting means for detecting the thickness of the separated sheets, wherein the sorting means sends out one sheet at a time from the separating means based on the detection result of the thickness detecting means. It is characterized by having a means for sorting the placed paper sheets.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the toll collection device according to the third aspect, the ticket length detecting means has a long sheet detecting means for detecting whether or not the longest sheet is one sheet. It is characterized by the following.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the toll collection device according to the third aspect, the separating means detects the insertion of two or more longest bills by the long bill detecting means. At this time, a return means for returning the two or more long-sheets to the insertion slot is provided.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the toll collection device of the first aspect, the separating means includes a shutter for opening and closing the insertion slot, and a first transporting means for transporting paper sheets from the insertion slot. A second conveying means for conveying the paper sheets from the first conveying means to the sorting means, a first sensor for detecting the presence or absence of the paper sheets before and after insertion from the insertion slot, and a second sensor. And a third sensor which is installed immediately before the second transport unit in the moving direction of the paper sheet and detects the presence or absence of the paper sheet.
, A fourth sensor installed immediately after the second transport unit in the moving direction of the paper sheet, and detecting the presence or absence of the paper sheet, and a paper sheet based on a detection signal from the first sensor. The loading of paper sheets from the insertion slot is completed by a loading unit that detects loading of paper and drives the first transport unit in a loading direction and detection signals from the first sensor and the second sensor. And the shutter control means for closing the shutter, and the closing operation of the shutter drives the first transport means in the reverse direction, and the detection signal from the second sensor detects the Detecting that the rear end has been aligned by the shutter,
Means for stopping the conveyance means, and the stoppage of the first conveyance means and the detection signal from the third sensor, the paper sheet having the longest ticket length among the paper sheets whose rear ends are aligned. Means for detecting cueing and driving the second conveying means to take out the longest sheet length, and detecting the longest sheet length by the detection signal from the fourth sensor. Means for driving the first transport means to transport the remaining short-sheet-length paper sheets to be transmitted by the second transport means, and transported by the second transport means. A thickness detecting means for detecting the thickness of the paper sheet,
The sorting means includes means for sorting sheets sent out one by one by the second transport means based on a detection result of the thickness detecting means.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the toll collection device according to the fifth aspect, the separating means detects the longest ticket length by stopping the first transporting means and detecting a signal from the third sensor. When two or more sheets are detected, the shutter is opened, and the first transport unit is driven in a reverse direction to return all the sheets to the insertion slot. I do.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the toll collection device according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, the plurality of different types of paper sheets are the most expensive tickets on which information for determining a vehicle usage fee is recorded. It is characterized by comprising a long toll ticket and a card that is thicker than the toll ticket and can pay a toll fee shorter than the ticket length.

[0016] The invention according to claim 8 is a toll collection method for collecting tolls based on a plurality of different types of sheets inserted for paying a usage fee. Collectively into the insertion slot, separating a plurality of paper sheets collectively inserted from the insertion slot one by one according to the type, and separating the separated sheets into the type And a step of performing a process for collecting a fee unique to the type of the sorted sheets.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the toll collection method of the eighth aspect, the separating step includes a step of taking in the sheets inserted at a time from the insertion slot, Aligning the trailing edge of the leaves, detecting the length of the ticket length of the aligned leaf edge, and separating the trailing edge of the leaf sheets one by one according to the length of the ticket length And the step of detecting the thickness of the separated sheets, wherein the sorting step sorts the separated sheets one by one according to the detected thickness.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the toll collection method according to the eighth or ninth aspect, the plurality of different types of paper sheets have the longest ticket length in which information for determining the vehicle usage fee is recorded. It is characterized by comprising a toll ticket and a card capable of paying a toll fee that is thicker and shorter than the toll ticket.

According to the first, second, fifth, seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth aspects of the present invention, different kinds of paper sheets, such as a toll ticket and a prepaid card, or a toll ticket and a postpayment card, are input at once from the insertion slot. , Can be reliably separated one by one and distributed to the processing section for each sheet.

According to the third, fourth and sixth aspects of the present invention, when two sheets of the same kind, such as a pass ticket, are inserted by mistake, this can be detected and returned to the driver.

[0021]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a paper sheet processing unit which is a main part of an embodiment of a toll collection device of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the paper sheet separating unit shown in FIG. 1 in a further enlarged manner. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the overall functional configuration of an embodiment of the toll collection device of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the sheet separating section and the sheet sorting section shown in FIG.

In FIG. 1, a paper sheet processing unit 1 in the toll collection device according to the present embodiment includes a toll ticket used on a toll road, a highway card as a prepaid card, and a credit / separate payment card as a postpayment card. Is a unit that accepts and processes paper sheets such as at once.
For this reason, the paper sheet processing unit 1 includes a paper sheet separation unit 2 that separates a plurality of different kinds of paper sheets inserted from one insertion port at a time, and a separated paper sheet. Sorting unit 3 that sorts the tickets by type, a passport processing unit 4 that processes the passports sorted by the sheet sorting unit 3, and a prepaid card sorted by the sheet sorting unit 3. It comprises a prepaid card processing unit 5 for processing and a postpaid card processing unit 6 for processing postpaid cards sorted by the paper sheet sorting unit 3. The paper sheet processing unit 1 is usually provided in a plurality of stages in the vertical direction in consideration of easy insertion of paper sheets by drivers of various types of vehicles, but is arranged to be moved up and down according to the height of the vehicle. For example, a single unit can be used.

In FIG. 2, the paper sheet separation section 2 has two motors, a take-in motor 11 and a conveyance motor 12, as drive sources for paper sheet conveyance, and each is controlled independently. The take-in motor 11 applies a driving force to the take-in roller 13, the separation roller 14, and the separation belt 15 via a belt or a gear. The transport motor 12 applies a driving force to the kick-out roller 16 and the pickup roller 17 via a belt, and also applies a driving force to the paper sheet sorting unit 3.

The paper sheet separating section 2 has three types of solenoids: a shutter solenoid 18, a separation solenoid 19, and a pickup solenoid 20. The shutter solenoid 18 controls a shutter 21 that opens and closes the insertion port. The separation solenoid 19 has a function of pressing the upper separation belt 15 against the lower separation belt 15, and changes the driving method such as the applied voltage and the chopper drive to reduce the pressing force of the upper and lower separation belts 15 as needed. Can be set freely. Pickup solenoid 20
Controls the mutual pressing force of the pair of pickup rollers 17.

In the sheet separating section 2, four sensors 22, 23, 24 and 25 are arranged on the conveying path.
Each sensor 22, 23, 24, 25, in addition to light, dark,
In the middle, three stages of semi-light detection are performed. Light is when there are no paper sheets, dark is when there are cards such as prepaid cards and post-payment cards, and semi-light is when there is only a toll ticket. The sensor detection threshold is determined by the rate. The first sensor 22 installed outside the shutter 21 has a main purpose of providing the opening / closing operation timing of the shutter 21 with respect to the insertion of paper sheets and the timing of starting the taking operation of the taking motor. Shutter 2
The second sensor 23 installed inside the unit 1 and the third sensor 24 installed near the pickup roller 17 determine whether only a toll ticket is located at that position (semi-light) or whether there is a card. The main purpose is to determine (dark) or whether there is nothing (bright). The fourth sensor 25 detects entry and passage of each medium. In addition, the distance between the second sensor 23 and the third sensor 24 is set to be longer than the ticket length of cards and shorter than the ticket length of a pass ticket.

The sheet separating section 2 has a thickness detecting roller 26 which moves up and down by the passage of the medium, and a thickness detecting sensor which detects how much the thickness detecting roller 26 has moved by the passage of the medium via a lever. 27 are provided. In the present embodiment, the thickness detection roller 26
Is arranged at a position adjacent to the kick-out roller 16 from the viewpoint of effective utilization of space, and can be arranged at another position.

Further, the rollers are arranged so as to satisfy certain conditions. That is, the separation roller 14 is arranged such that the distance from the inner surface of the shutter 21 is shorter than the card length of the card. The pickup roller 17 is arranged so that the distance from the inner surface of the shutter 21 is longer than the ticket length of the card and shorter than the ticket length of the pass ticket. The kick-out roller 16 is arranged so that the distance from the second sensor 23 is longer than the ticket length of the pass ticket.

In FIG. 3, a toll collection device according to the present embodiment has a driver operation panel unit 31 provided on the front surface.
And a sheet processing unit 1 shown in FIG. 1 and a receipt issuing unit 32
And a banknote processing unit 33 and a coin processing unit 34 for collecting tolls in cash, a coupon processing unit 35 for collecting tolls in coupons, a clerk operation unit 36 operated by a clerk, and control for controlling each unit. It comprises a unit 37, a power supply unit 38, and a housing unit.

Next, the operation of the paper sheet processing unit 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. When the sheets are collectively inserted from the insertion slot (step 100), the first sensor 22 detects the insertion (step 101). In a toll road exit unmanned system, a combination of paper sheets to be put in a lump is a combination of a toll ticket and a prepaid card or a combination of a toll ticket and a postpayment card.

When the first sensor 22 detects the insertion of a sheet, the shutter solenoid 18 is excited to open the shutter 21 (step 102). At the same time
The detection motor 22 drives the take-in motor 11 to rotate the take-up roller 13 in the take-in direction (step 103). Thereby, the take-in roller 13 collectively transports the input paper sheets into the separation unit (step 10).
4). At this time, since the separation solenoid and the pickup solenoid are not excited, only the pair of take-in rollers 13 reliably applies a conveying force to the medium. The upper separation roller 14 and the belt 15 are connected to the lower separation roller 14.
And the belt 15 by its own weight.

The first sensor 22 and the second sensor 2 detect that the pair of take-in rollers 13 has completely taken in the sheet.
When the detection is made in step 3 (step 105), the excitation of the shutter solenoid 18 is turned off, and the shutter 21 is closed (step 106). At this time, since the transport motor 12 has not started yet, the leading end of the paper sheet is
No further transport is performed when the six pairs are reached.

Next, the take-in motor 11 is rotated in the reverse direction to push the rear end of the paper sheet against the shutter 21 (step 10).
7). The press of the medium against the shutter 21 is confirmed by the detection of the second sensor 23 and the third sensor 24, and the take-in motor 11 is stopped (step 10).
8). Here, the second sensor 23 and the third sensor 24 perform a three-stage detection by adding an intermediate semi-brightness in addition to light and dark. If there is, the semi-light is when there is only a pass ticket, and the threshold value of sensor detection is determined by the transmittance of the medium. Specifically, if a toll ticket and a postpaid card are inserted, the second
By detecting darkness with the sensor 23 and detecting semi-brightness with the third sensor 24, it can be confirmed that the medium is pressed against the shutter 21.

If two pass tickets are inserted by mistake, the second sensor 23 and the third sensor 24
By detecting darkness, it is possible to diagnose a closing abnormality. In this case, it is returned by exciting the shutter solenoid 18 and opening the shutter 21.

When the pressing on the shutter 21 is completed,
The transport motor 12 is started to rotate the kick roller 16 and the pickup roller 17 (step 109),
The pickup solenoid 20 is excited, and the head of the longest ticket is sandwiched between the pair of pickup rollers 17 (step 110). As a result, only the pass ticket is conveyed to the sheet sorting section 3 (step 111). At this time, the medium conveyance is braked by the separation belt 15 by exciting the separation solenoid 19 as necessary.

When the fourth sensor 25 confirms the transport of the pass ticket to the sheet sorting section 3 (step 112), the take-in motor 11 is rotated in the take-in direction (step 113), and the separation solenoid 19 is turned on. The card is excited, the card is conveyed by the separation belt 15 and the separation roller 14, and further conveyed to the sheet sorting section 3 by the pickup roller 17 and the kick-out roller 16 (step 114). At this time, the thickness of the card is detected by the thickness detecting roller 26 provided in the kick-out roller section (step 115), and it is determined whether the card is a prepaid card or a postpaid card, and sorted by the paper sheet sorting section 3 (step 115). Step 116).

The passports sorted by the paper sheet sorting section 3 are read and printed by a passport processing section 4 to calculate a fee, and then stored as processed passports. Is done.

When a prepaid card is inserted together with a toll ticket, only the prepaid card is sent to the prepaid card processing section 5 by the paper sheet sorting section 3, where the barcode is read, and the magnetic recording information of the remaining balance is then read. Is read, magnetic information is calculated by subtracting the fare calculated based on the toll ticket, printed, and returned to the driver.

When the post-payment card is inserted, the post-payment card processing section 6 reads the magnetically recorded information, performs a toll collection process, and returns to the driver.

As is clear from the above description, according to the present embodiment, the material, thickness, and the like such as a toll ticket, a highway card, and a credit card used on a toll road are used.
Since paper sheets with different external shapes can be separated one by one, all the paper sheets required for toll collection in an unmanned toll road exit system must be put into one insertion slot at a time. The driver's convenience can be improved.

[0040]

As described above, according to the present invention, in an unmanned exit system for a toll road, different types of paper sheets such as a toll ticket, a prepaid card such as a highway card, and a postpaid card such as a credit card are used. It is possible to provide a toll collection device capable of collectively putting in classes into the same insertion slot, and to improve the service for the driver.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a paper sheet processing unit which is a main part of an embodiment of a toll collection device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a further enlarged paper sheet separating section shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the overall functional configuration of an embodiment of the toll collection device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of a paper sheet separating unit and a paper sheet sorting unit shown in FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Paper processing section 2 Paper separation section 3 Paper sorting section 4 Passport processing section 5 Prepaid card processing section 6 Payment after payment Card processing unit 11: intake motor 12: transport motor 13: intake roller 14: separation roller 15: separation belt 16: kick-out roller 17: pickup roller 18 ...... Shutter solenoid 19 ...... Separation solenoid 20 ...... Pickup solenoid 21 ...... Shutter 22,23,24,25 ...... Sensor 26 ...... Thickness detection roller 27 ...... Thickness detection sensor

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A toll collection device for collecting tolls based on a plurality of sheets of different types inserted to pay a usage fee, provided for each type of said sheets, A sheet processing means for performing a process for collecting a unique fee, an insertion slot into which the different types of sheets are collectively inserted, and a sheet collectively inserted from the insertion slot. Separating means for separating sheets one by one according to the type, and sorting means for sorting the sheets separated by the separating means to any of the sheet processing means according to the type. Toll collection device. 2. The sheet separating device according to claim 1, wherein the separating unit is configured to take in the sheets inserted collectively from the insertion slot, a unit configured to align rear ends of the sheets taken together, and a rear end aligned. Length detecting means for detecting the length of the bill length of the paper sheets, means for separating the rear-aligned paper sheets one by one according to the length of the bill length, and the thickness of the separated paper sheets A thickness detecting means for detecting the thickness of the sheet, wherein the sorting means has means for sorting the paper sheets sent one by one from the separating means based on the detection result of the thickness detecting means. The toll collection device according to claim 1. 3. The toll collection device according to claim 2, wherein said ticket length detecting means has a long sheet detecting means for detecting whether or not the longest sheet is one sheet. . 4. When the separation means detects the insertion of two or more longest bills by the long paper sheet detecting means, the two or more long bills are detected. 4. A toll collection device according to claim 3, further comprising a return means for returning the information to the insertion slot. 5. The shutter according to claim 1, wherein the separating unit includes a shutter configured to open and close the insertion slot, a first transporting unit configured to transport the sheets from the insertion slot, and a sheet configured to transport the sheets from the first transporting unit. A second conveying unit for conveying to the sorting unit; a first sensor and a second sensor for detecting presence / absence of a sheet before and after insertion from the insertion port; and a second sensor for moving the sheet in the moving direction. A third sensor that is installed immediately before the conveying means and detects the presence or absence of paper sheets; and a third sensor that is installed immediately after the second conveying means in the moving direction of the paper sheets and detects the presence or absence of paper sheets. A fourth sensor, a loading unit that detects the insertion of paper sheets based on a detection signal from the first sensor, and drives the first transporting unit in a loading direction; and a first sensor and a second loading unit. By the detection signal from the sensor, the paper sheet is taken in from the insertion slot Shutter control means for detecting the completion of the operation and closing the shutter; driving the first transport means in the reverse direction by the closing operation of the shutter; and detecting each sheet according to a detection signal from the second sensor. Detecting that the rear end is aligned by the shutter, stopping the first transporting means, and detecting the rear end of the first transporting means and the detection signal from the third sensor so that the rear end is Means for detecting the cue of the longest note length among the aligned sheets and driving the second transport means to take out the longest note length; 4, the detection of the sending of the longest bill is detected by the detection signal from the sensor of No. 4, and the first short conveying means is driven to drive the first conveying means to convey the remaining short paper. Means for sending out by transport means; Thickness detecting means for detecting the thickness of the paper sheet conveyed by the conveying means, wherein the sorting means is one by one by the second conveying means based on a detection result of the thickness detecting means. 2. The toll collection device according to claim 1, further comprising means for sorting out the sent sheets. 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the separation unit is configured to stop the first conveyance unit and detect a detection signal from the third sensor.
When two or more sheets having the longest ticket length are detected, the shutter is opened, and the first transport unit is driven in the reverse direction to return all the sheets to the insertion slot. The toll collection device according to claim 5, further comprising: 7. A plurality of paper sheets of different types are used for a longest ticket length in which information for determining a vehicle usage fee is recorded, and for a thicker and shorter ticket length than the said ticket. The toll collection device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, comprising a card capable of paying a fee. 8. A toll collection method for collecting tolls based on a plurality of different types of sheets input for paying a usage fee, wherein the plurality of different types of sheets are collectively inserted into an insertion slot. And a step of separating a plurality of paper sheets inserted at one time from the insertion slot one by one according to the type thereof, and a step of sorting the separated paper sheets according to the type thereof And a step of performing a process for collecting tolls specific to the type of the sorted paper sheets. 9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the separating step includes: taking in the sheets inserted collectively from the insertion slot; aligning the rear end of each sheet taken in collectively; A step of detecting the length of the sheet length of the separated sheets; a step of separating the sheets whose rear ends are aligned one by one according to the length of the sheet length; and detecting the thickness of the separated sheets. The method of claim 8, wherein the sorting step sorts the separated sheets one by one according to a detected thickness. 10. The plurality of different types of paper sheets,
9. The vehicle according to claim 8, comprising a toll ticket having the longest ticket length on which information for determining a toll fee of the vehicle is recorded, and a card capable of paying a toll fee thicker and shorter than the toll ticket. Or the fee collection method described in 9.