JPH06333156A - Information automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an electronic medium automatic vending machine in place of weekly comic magazines, etc., published a lot by building up a system that information of a weekly comic magazine is stored into a 1st storage medium with a large capacity of being erased and written through a communication line and the information is stored into a 2nd erasable and writable storage medium possessed by the user at a payment of cost. CONSTITUTION:Comic data or weekly magazine data are supplied to an input receptacle 37 of an information automatic vending machine 14 from an electronic magazine publishing company 18 via a telephone line 19 and a MODEM 20. The data are supplied to a 1st large capacity erasable and writable storage medium 25 provided in the automatic vending machine 14 via a line interface 24. The data stored in the 1st storage medium 25 are fed to an IC card interface 26 and sent to a receptacle 27 of an ID card insertion port 16. When a coin is depositted to a coin deposition inlet port 17 connecting to a coin interface 31, desired data are written on an IC card 28.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information vending apparatus suitable for selling disposable information such as weekly comic magazines, weekly magazines and newspapers.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, the applicant of the present invention has proposed a device as shown in FIG. 9 as an information vending device for selling publications such as weekly magazines which do not require long-term storage.

In FIG. 9, reference numeral 14 denotes an information vending machine for automatically selling information such as weekly magazines which does not need to be stored for a long period of time. The vending machine 14 has a large capacity disc 1 such as an optical disc built therein. ing. The large-capacity disc 1 records data obtained by digitally converting the above information received via the antenna 2 and the tuner 3 via the controller 10 and the disc driver circuit 4 or the like. Of course, a large-capacity disk for a mother in which the above information is recorded may be set in advance, and a display unit 5 such as an LCD which is also used as a touch panel 6 is provided on the front surface of the information vending machine to provide a large-capacity disk. The spine of the publication stored on Disc 1
It is configured to be displayed on the display unit 5.

Further, a large number of small-capacity discs 7 such as mini discs on which information is not recorded are prepared in the information vending device 14, and a data recorder 8 and a label printer 9 and a memory 12 such as a font ROM are provided. Have. Reference numeral 11 denotes a disk outlet for the small capacity disk 7.

With the above-mentioned structure, when the purchaser indicates the spine of various magazines in the large-capacity disk 1 displayed on the display unit 5 on the touch panel 6, the controller 10 determines the corresponding address from the memory 12 and sets this address. Is supplied to the display unit 5 to turn on the indicator, and the disk driver 4
Is driven to read the information data at the corresponding address and send it to the data recorder 8 to write the information data on the small capacity disk 7.

Further, the controller 10 prints the title of the corresponding spine cover or the like on the small capacity disk 7 via the label printer 9 and ejects the small capacity disk 7 on which printing and data writing have been performed from the disk outlet 11. Complete the sale.

[0007]

In the information vending machine described in the above-mentioned conventional structure, a large number of small-capacity disks for information recording are prepared in advance in the same housing as in an ordinary vending machine such as a magazine. A data recorder 8 and a label printer 9 for recording information and printing a label on these small-capacity discs are required, and there are many mechanical drive parts, which easily cause failures and the device is complicated.

[0008] Further, there is a problem that a large amount of material is consumed by mass-issuing when a disposable article is replaced by a magazine made of paper or the like and a disc made of plastic or the like is used, which causes pollution due to the plastic or the like. It was

An object of the present invention is to provide an information vending machine which solves the above problems, and its purpose is to temporarily store an IC card comprising a self-owned erasable and writable flash memory or the like. (Disposable) Write information so as not to consume a large amount of paper or small capacity disc, etc., and can be easily configured with only electrical parts such as IC without mechanical drive parts such as data recorders and label printers. Therefore, it aims to convert weekly cartoon magazines, weekly magazines, newspapers, etc., into electronic media, in which the immediacy of information transmission is quick and the cost is reduced.

[0010]

As shown in FIG. 1, the information vending apparatus of the present invention is an information vending apparatus for dubbing and selling unread information such as a weekly comic magazine. In addition, a communication transfer means 24 for transferring information via the communication means 21, and an erasable and writable first recording medium 25 for storing the information received by the communication transfer means 24.
And a selection means 3 for selecting predetermined information to be dubbed in accordance with the stored contents of the first recording medium 25.
0, 32, 33, a second recording medium 28 such as an IC card brought by the user for storing the information selected by the selection means 30, 32, 33, and the second recording medium 28 brought by the user can be inserted and removed. And a selecting means 30, 32, 33 on the second recording medium 28 inserted into the inserting / removing means 16.
The information stored in the first recording medium 25 selected in step 1 is dubbed.

[0011]

The information vending device of the present invention is a large-capacity semiconductor memory that can be erased and written through a telephone or a communication circuit.
Store temporary information such as a weekly comic magazine on the first recording medium composed of a magnetic disk, a magneto-optical disk, etc.,
Since a second recording medium such as a self-erasable and writable IC card is paid for storage and the IC card on which this information is recorded is viewed on a reproduction display device or the like, it is consumed in large quantities by mass issuance. It is possible to establish electronic media that can reduce the consumption of paper such as comic magazines and weekly magazines.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the information vending apparatus of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 show an example of a system diagram and an external view of an information vending machine for purchasing comic data, newspapers, weekly magazine data, etc. placed in a shop in a station, a bookstore, etc. is there.

First, the external view of FIG. 2 will be described. The housing 15 is formed into a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and an upper end portion thereof has a table portion 15a for constituting a display portion 33 such as an LCD and an operation portion 32 in which various operation keys are arranged, a coin slot 17 and an IC card insertion portion. Panel portion 15b in which the outlet 16 is provided
And the upper surface portion 15c serving as a roof, the table portion 15a, the panel portion 15b, the upper surface portion 15c, and the upper surface portion 15c are communicated with each other, and the side surfaces are stepwise, and the table portion 15a and the upper surface portion 15c are parallel. An inclined panel portion 15b is arranged between these plates.

A plug 37 provided below the right side plate 15R of the housing is, for example, a RS-232C plug for exchanging information from a communication line. Of course, commercial power supply voltage and the like are also supplied from the back plate side.

A rectangular through hole 33a is formed in the table portion 15a so that the display screen of the display portion 33 can be viewed directly, and the display key is provided by the start key 32a of the operation key group provided on the left and right of the through hole 33a. Various operations are performed according to the instructions displayed on the display screen 33.

Next, a system diagram of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 1, the input plug 37 of the information vending device 14 is a disposable cartoon data sent from the electronic magazine publisher 18 to the communication circuit 21 via the telephone line 19 and the modem 20, for example, weekly magazine data, Hot news data etc. for newspapers will be supplied. Various data transmitted via such a communication circuit (or telephone line) may be supplied from an external computer 22 or a large-capacity optical disk 23.

Such various data are stored in the information vending machine 1
It is supplied via the line interface 24 to the erasable and writable first large-capacity recording medium 25 arranged in the memory 4.

The magazine name, release date, sale price, etc. of various magazines stored in the above-mentioned first recording medium 25 are displayed on the display unit 33 as C.
It is displayed by the system controller 30 such as PU. That is, the syscon 30 selects and displays a predetermined display character from the system ROM 34, the system RAM 35, the font ROM 36, and the like.

The data stored in the first recording medium 25 is supplied to the IC card interface 26 and sent to the plug 27 of the IC card insertion / removal opening 16 according to the format of the IC card 28. The IC card 2 brought by the information purchaser is placed in the connector 27 at the back of the IC card insertion / removal opening 16.
8 is inserted.

Reference numeral 29 denotes a lock mechanism for locking the inserted IC card so that it will not come off during recording, as will be described later.

The currency insertion port 17 is a currency interface 31.
Is mechanically and electrically related to. The system controller 30 includes a line interface 24, a first recording medium 25, an IC card interface 26, a currency interface 31, an operation unit 32, a display unit 33, a system ROM 34, and a system RA.
M35, font ROM36, IC card lock mechanism 2
The control data is transmitted and received to and from 9.

The IC card 28 which is the second memory described above.
In the case of manga data, still image data of manga and the like and character data related to this still image, that is, characters in the balloon of the manga and voice data obtained by converting these characters into voices are written.

The memory of such an IC card 12 is erased,
Writable EAROM (electrically
alterable ROM), EPROM (era
Sable programmable ROM), E
EPROM (electrically erasab)
le programmable ROM), SRAM
(Static random access mem
It is also possible to use a flash memory having a large capacity and a large number of rewritable times, which is a non-volatile memory such as an EEPROM and a low-cost EPROM having an on-board electrical rewriting function. And

The operation in the case of purchasing a predetermined weekly comic book magazine by the information vending machine having the above-mentioned configuration of FIGS. 1 and 2 will be described with reference to the flow of FIG.

A user who wants to purchase information on a predetermined weekly comic book magazine goes to the information vending device 14 with his / her own second memory, the IC card 28, and presses the start key 32a (first). 1 step ST1) and the system ROM 34, the system R on the display screen of the display unit 33.
The AM 35 and the font ROM 36 cause the syscon 30 to display a menu of comic magazine names, issue dates, etc. stored in the memory 25 (second step ST2).

The purchaser moves the cursor position vertically and horizontally on the display screen of the display unit 33 with the menu key 32b to select information of a predetermined weekly comic book magazine (third step ST3).

The syscon 30 displays the price of the magazine on the display screen of the display unit 33 from the font ROM and gives a money insertion instruction (fourth step ST4).

In the fifth step ST5, when money is inserted from the money insertion port 17, the syscon 30 operates as the money interface 3
The check of the true image of money, the price, etc. is carried out through the system applied to the well-known vending machine through 1. If these checks are appropriate, the syscon 30 gives an instruction to insert the IC card 28 brought by the purchaser into the IC card insertion slot 16 on the display unit (sixth step ST6).

In the seventh step ST7, the syscon 30 becomes IC
Check whether the card 28 is inserted into the connector 27,
If S, the IC card lock mechanism 29 is operated (eighth step ST8).

Although the lock mechanism will be described later, this lock mechanism makes it impossible to remove the IC card 28 during writing, so that the IC card 2 is not inserted during the writing of information.
8 cannot be pulled out.

Next, in the ninth step ST9, the syscon 30 selects the data designated from the information stored in the first recording medium 25 based on the address and the like, and the IC card interface 26 follows the format of the IC card 28. The character data of the comic data balloon, the voice data of this character data, and the like are transferred to the IC card.

When the writing is completed, the tenth step ST
At 10, the data written in the IC card is checked, and if the writing is defective, the process proceeds to the 11th step ST11. At the 11th step ST11, the IC card 28 is defective, and the display unit 33 is instructed to replace it. , And returns to the sixth step ST6.

If the information writing check is OK, the IC card lock mechanism 2 is executed in the twelfth step ST12.
When 9 is released, the IC card 28 is ejected from the IC card insertion / removal opening 16 to the extent that it can be pulled out with a finger.

Next, in the thirteenth step ST13, I is displayed on the display.
When instructing to remove the C card, the purchaser removes the IC card 28 in the fourteenth step ST14. Last fifteen
At step ST15, the change or the like is discharged to reach the end.

In this way, the user can buy an IC card in which comic data and voice data corresponding to the character data of the balloon are stored in the IC card of his own in the information vending device.

Such an IC card can be viewed (listened) on the train by, for example, a portable reproduction display device.

An embodiment of such a reproduction display device will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 4, the casing 38 of the reproducing / displaying device 45 is formed into a substantially rectangular parallelepiped box shape, and its size is selected to be about A5 and its thickness is selected to be about 20 mm.

An LCD 46 or the like is provided on the upper surface of the housing 38, and a liquid crystal display screen 39 is displayed through a display window. The display screen of the LCD 46 is selected to be large so that it is easy to see. The speaker 47 is attached to the lower surface of the lower part of the upper plate of the housing 38, a sound output hole 40 is formed in the upper plate, and a sound signal from the speaker 47 is output through the sound output hole 40.

Further, the operation portion 4 is provided on the lower portion of the upper plate of the casing 38.
The various operation switches that make up item 8 are arranged. Figure 4
For example, the cross key 48a is a key for moving the display screen 39 up, down, left and right, the page turning key 48b is a key for page or frame feeding, and 48d is for selecting cartoon data in monochrome or multi-color. The power supply key 48c is a power "connection / disconnection" key provided on the front side plate, and various operation keys are arranged as necessary.

On the right side plate of the housing 38, for example, an IC card slot 42 into which the IC card 28 having information recorded can be inserted / removed
Has been drilled.

By using such a portable reproducing / displaying device, the cartoon can be easily viewed on the train or outdoors.

Various structures of the IC card lock mechanism 29 described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 5A and FIG.
B is an explanatory view showing a schematic side surface when the IC card 28 is inserted into and removed from the IC card insertion / removal opening 16, and in this example, the first side is shown.
Recording medium 25 to IC card 28 that is the second memory
During dubbing, that is, writing, the tip of the IC card 28 is positioned at the IC card insertion slot 1 as shown in FIG. 5A.
The IC card 28 is inserted so as not to be picked up by a fingertip, while the IC card 28 projects by about 1 mm from 6.

Next, when the writing is completed, as shown in FIG. 5B, the front end of the IC card 28 is inserted into the IC card insertion / removal opening 16
Eject so that it protrudes more to the extent that it can be picked up with your fingers.

An example of the structure for ejecting as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 6A and 6B. 6A shows a state in which the IC card 28 is inserted into the IC card insertion / removal opening 16, and FIG. 6B is a schematic plan view showing a state at the time of ejection. As shown in FIG. Zac
27a is inserted into a plug (plug) 27 fixed to the housing 15 side, the bases of the plug 27 and the plug seat 27a are combined, and the insertion end state similar to that described with reference to FIG. 5A is obtained.
1m from the IC card slot 16 to the tip of the IC card 28
The IC card 28 cannot be picked up with a finger in a state of being projected by about m.

At this time, the side wall of the IC card 28 is held at a predetermined position by the leaf spring 50 provided on the side wall of the IC card insertion / removal opening 16. In addition, the IC card insertion / removal opening 1 of the housing 15
The upper end 51a of the pressing rod 51 slidably disposed in the inner part of 6 as shown by the arrow AA 'and the bottom surface of the IC card 28 are separated from each other and have a predetermined gap g. .
A plunger 52 is attached to the other end of the pressing rod 51.

FIG. 6B shows the plunger 52 for ejecting.
The upper end 51a of the pressing rod 51 presses the bottom surface of the IC card 28 by the spring force provided on the plunger 52, and the IC card 28 is sufficiently projected from the IC card insertion / removal opening 16 as in FIG. 5B. It is made to let.

FIGS. 7A and 7B show another example of the eject mechanism, and the portions corresponding to those in FIGS. 6A and 6B are designated by the same reference numerals and their duplicate description will be omitted. In this example, the lock mechanism for holding the IC card 28 at a predetermined position is not the leaf spring 50 but the housing 1
5, the ball bearing 53 and the spring 54 provided on the side of the IC card insertion / removal opening 16 constitute a biasing means.
When the IC card 28 is pushed in, the ball bearing 53 is fitted into the concave groove 55 provided on the side surface of the IC card 28 so that the IC card 28 is engaged in a click motion. or,
The eject mechanism biases the plunger 52, but the pressing rod 51 is biased by the spring 57 in the direction of arrow A between the pin 56 and the fixed end as shown in FIG. 7A.

A locking pin 58 is erected at the other end of the pressing rod 51 so as to be orthogonal to the pin 56, and a locking portion 60 formed at one end of an L-shaped movable arm 59 is attached to the locking pin 58. Lock.
A pivot 61 is rotatably formed at a point orthogonal to the arm extending in the L-shape of the movable arm 59, and a biasing force capable of always engaging the locking portion 60 with the locking pin 58 is applied by a spring 62. .

FIG. 7A shows a state in which the IC card 28 is pushed into the IC card slot 16. If the syscon 30 biases the plunger 52 in this state, the movable arm 59
Rotates clockwise around the pivot 61, the locking pin 58 is disengaged from the locking portion 60 of the movable arm 59, and the pressing rod 51 is moved by the biasing force of the spring 57 of the IC card 28 as shown in FIG. 7B. The bottom surface is pressed to pull out the contact plug seat 27a from the contact plug 27, and the ball bearing 54 of the biasing means is ejected from the concave groove 55. When the urging force of the plunger 52 is released, the movable arm returns to the position shown in FIG. 7A by the spring 62. When the IC card 28 is inserted into the IC card insertion / removal opening 16, the locking pin 58 moves along the head portion 60 a of the locking portion 60 of the movable arm 59 and is locked by the locking portion 60.

8A and 8B show still another example of the lock mechanism. FIG. 8A is a side sectional view showing a state where the IC card 28 is inserted into the IC card insertion / removal opening 16, and FIG. 8B is a plan view.

In this example, the lock mechanism is the IC card 28.
2 leaf springs 6 between the upper and lower plates instead of locking at the side of
It is configured to be locked by 3a and 63b. Although the eject mechanism for urging the pressing rod 51 is not shown in this configuration, in addition to the configuration of FIGS. 6 and 7, for example, a motor is used instead of the plunger, and the rotational force of the motor is converted into a linear motion, for example, a rack and Obviously, pinions, opposite corners of screws, cams, slide clamp mechanisms, etc. could be used.

In the above embodiment, the case where the information automatic vending apparatus automatically receives the information from the publisher side has been described, but the information automatic vending apparatus side may receive the information based on the control signal from the publisher side. Good. The payment of money may be made by a prepaid card or the like, and a plurality of IC card insertion / removal ports may be provided so that a plurality of data can be dubbed simultaneously. Alternatively, it may be an information vending device that handles only single information.

Although the IC card has been described as a contact type, a non-contact type is preferable. Since the writing speed is relatively slow in the IC card on which the flash memory is mounted, it is possible to speed up the IC card by arranging a plurality of chips in parallel and performing parallel processing. Further, the protection for copying the data is performed from the protection of the copyright so that the purchaser can personally perform the dubbing protection for collecting the personal information.

The information automatic vending apparatus of the present invention is an erasable and writable IC memory of a weekly comic magazine, a newspaper with strong breaking news, a job magazine, etc., which is owned by the purchaser for the day of the week, at a shop or the like in the station premises. Since it was made to dubbing at high speed,
A large amount of paper and plastic raw materials used for various information that is discarded and is temporary and has strong promptness can be saved, and various harmful effects such as air pollution caused by transportation and incineration can be eliminated.

[0056]

According to the present invention, dubbing can be done immediately at a station premises or the like and re-recording can be performed many times, so that it becomes possible to develop a medium which replaces the current sales channel of weekly comic magazines. The distribution time is quick, and inexpensive information can be transmitted.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system diagram showing an embodiment of an information automatic vending apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an external view showing an embodiment of the information automatic vending apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of the information automatic vending apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an IC dubbed by the information vending device of the present invention.
It is an external view of a reproduction display device for reproducing a card.

FIG. 5 is a schematic explanatory view of an IC card insertion / removal state of the information automatic vending apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram (I) of the IC card insertion / removal state of the information automatic vending apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view (II) of the IC card insertion / removal state of the information automatic vending apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view (III) of the IC card insertion / removal state of the information automatic vending apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a system diagram of a conventional information vending device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 14 Information Vending Machine 18 Electronic Publisher 25 First Recording Medium 28 Second Memory (IC Card) 29 IC Card Lock Mechanism 30 Syscon

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. In an information vending device for dubbing and selling undiscarded information such as a weekly manga magazine, the above-mentioned information is received and given through a communication means and the above-mentioned receiving and giving means. An erasable and writable recording medium that stores the information, a selection unit that selects predetermined information to be dubbed according to the stored content of the first recording medium, and the information selected by the selection unit. IC to bring your own
A second recording medium such as a card; and an inserting / removing means capable of inserting / removing the second recording medium brought in by the user, and the selection is made on the second recording medium inserted in the inserting / removing means. An information vending device, wherein the information stored in the first recording medium selected by means is dubbed. 2. The information automatic vending apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the communication transfer means is configured to transfer a signal by a public circuit. 3. The first recording medium has a receiving procedure for automatically receiving information from the communication exchanging means.
2. The information automatic vending apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transmission information is automatically downloaded to the recording medium. 4. The information automatic vending apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information automatic vending apparatus is provided with an inspection means for detecting the quality of the second recording medium. 5. The detecting device for detecting whether the information automatic vending apparatus has finished recording or is recording on the second recording medium,
2. The information automatic vending apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the inserting / removing means of the second recording medium is provided with a lock means for locking the second recording medium being recorded. 6. The information automatic vending apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the selection means has a selection member capable of directly downloading information from an electronic magazine publishing company.