JPS6014386A - Automatic ticket checker - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic ticket gate having a feature in printing processing of inserted coupon tickets.

Background of the Invention Recently, commuter passes have been traditionally used as automatic ticket gates.
Automatic ticket gates that can handle multiple tickets in addition to regular tickets are being installed.

Conventionally, if a ticket was not automatically checked, a station staff member would stamp the station name and boarding date on the ticket each time the ticket was used. Therefore, when a ticket is processed by an automatic ticket gate, it is necessary to write these data into the inserted ticket and to print them on the face of the ticket. By the way, in automatic ticket gates that process coupon tickets, printing on the coupon tickets is performed by a thermal head. The thermal head used here patterns the characters of the station name directly onto the print head, heats the head in advance before printing, and presses it against the face of the ticket when it is in the designated position. A printing method is used. Since such a thermal head has a faster printing time than a one-way head, it can be used for printing coupon tickets.

The date of use of the ticket is similarly printed on the ticket using the date of use, which is made up of 7-segment numbers. In this way, the station name thermal head itself is configured as a station name pattern, so it must be created for each station where an automatic ticket gate is installed. Therefore, there was a problem in that each station had to incur costs for designing the pattern of the station name, masks, etc., and that the L-J had to produce a large number of types in small quantities, resulting in high costs.

Also, since the coupon ticket can be boarded from any station, if it is actually used, the section where the coupon ticket can be boarded (
(destination station) is unknown. Therefore, if you want to print the sections that can be boarded on the ticket and use it, the automatic ticket gate will have to hold number-mark heads with many station name patterns and have those station names printed according to the sections on the ticket. However, such a thing was actually impossible.

Furthermore, due to the limited space for installing the thermal heads, in conventional automatic ticket gates, two of these thermal heads are installed above and below the general route for passing the coupons. Therefore, the forward/reverse direction (front/back) 4 that can be considered as the direction in which the coupon is inserted
It was not possible to print in all directions.

Figures 1 (a) and (bl are the front and back views of the ticket before passing through the automatic ticket gate, Figure 1 (C1) and Figure 1 (dl) are the front and back views of the ticket before passing through the automatic ticket gate, This is a surface view of a ticket showing the printing condition.As shown above, one of the heads is used depending on the direction in which the ticket is inserted, but in both cases, only the station name characters are written vertically in order to print on the surface. , the other pre-printed characters were written horizontally as shown in the figure, making them difficult to read.

Purpose of the Invention The present invention has been made in view of the problems with the printing method of conventional automatic ticket gates that process coupon tickets. To provide an automatic ticket gate having a printing function capable of simultaneously printing the station name of a boarding station to pass through and the boarding section, and printing in the same direction as other printed characters.

Structure and Effects of the Invention The present invention has a conveying means for conveying an inserted ticket, a magnetic information reading means for reading magnetic information of the ticket, and a determining means for determining the validity of the inserted ticket. The automatic ticket gate opens and closes the gate based on the determination result of the determining means, and includes a storage means for storing a dot pattern of the station name of the installed station and at least the farthest station in each boarding section from the installed station, and a transport means. A dot printing head installed behind the magnetic information reading means along the conveyance route, and when the inserted ticket is a coupon ticket, the insertion direction of the coupon read by the magnetic information reading means and the riding section. The present invention is characterized by comprising a print control means for reading out the dot pattern of the station name and the name of the farthest station within the boarding section from the storage means based on the above information, and applying the dot pattern to the dot printing head 1 to print the dot pattern.

According to the present invention having such characteristics, there is no need to create a station name pattern unique to each station where an automatic ticket gate is installed in advance for each station, and the station name is recorded as pattern data in the storage device. It's enough if you keep it. Therefore, the thermal head itself can be the same for automatic ticket gates installed at all stations, and the price of automatic ticket gates can be reduced. Not only the station where you board the train, but also the station name of the farthest station in the section where the ticket is valid are printed at the same time as you pass through the automatic ticket gate, which prevents passengers from getting on the wrong board.
This makes it easier for staff to judge whether passengers can board the vehicle or not when collecting tickets. Furthermore, since the station name can be printed in the same direction as other ticket information, the station name can be easily seen.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS No. 2-1 is a mechanical diagram showing the configuration of an automatic ticket gate according to the present invention. In this figure, a photoelectric switch SWI for detecting the insertion of a 1ζ ticket is provided close to the input slot, and the inserted ticket or coupon is conveyed along the conveyance path 1 in the direction of the arrow. Along one general feeding path, magnetic heads 2 and 3 are provided above and below the path, respectively. These magnetic heads 2
．． 3, the magnetic head 2,
Rollers 4 and 5 abutting rollers 3 are arranged. Further transportation.

Punch mechanism 6 for inserting tickets inserted along path 1
is provided. The punch mechanism 6 is used to punch regular tickets and coupon tickets, and a photoelectric switch 8w2. tll! It consists of a stopper 7 for stopping the ticket being fed and a puncher 8 for punching the ticket. a printing mechanism 10 that performs printing processing on coupons that are sent to the general public along the transport route 1;
1.1 will be established. The printing mechanism 10 prints on the ticket from the second side of the transport path 1, and the printing mechanism 11 prints from below the transport path. Each of the printing mechanisms 10 and 11 includes a photoelectric switch SW3 for detecting when the coupon reaches the printing limit section. SW4, a thermal dot head 12.13 provided on the printing side, and a touch roller 1 which is provided facing the thermal dot head 12.13 and which sandwiches the ticket between the thermal dot head 12 and the thermal dot head 12 and 13, respectively.
4 and 15 are provided, and stoppers 16 and 17 for stopping the coupon ticket at the printing position are also provided. [Touch rollers] 4 and 15 are connected to thermal rollers 1 to 12 through the tickets inserted by touch solenoids 14a and 15a, respectively.
．． 1.3 ((t99), and when energized, the rollers 18a, 1 are interlocked by the pulse motor 18.
It is configured to follow the rotation of 8b. The pulse smoke 18 is driven at a predetermined speed, and during printing, the coupon ticket is intermittently conveyed at a predetermined speed. A photoelectric switch SW5 is provided along the conveyance path 1 in the vicinity of the ticket take-out port for detecting the withdrawal of the ticket. Here, it is preferable to use a thermal door 1, a printing head, and a high-speed type thermal door 1, which has a coarse linear density and which has a high speed. For example, if a normal thermal head has a dot density of 6 lines/mm and one cycle takes 5 ms, for example, when printing only the boarding station,
Assuming that 2 blocks of printing are required as shown in C1 and (dl), and the size of the block is 4 mm, 1
If the characters are composed of 24 dots, one block is 120m5.
(24 x 5) is required, and the printing time for 2 pro print is 240 m5. However, in the present invention, when using a thermal head with a coarse linear density and high speed, for example, a thermal head with a cotton density of 4 lines/H and a print time of 21113 per cycle, Assuming that a character consists of 16 dots, 1 pro/7 marks is 32n+
A printing time of s (24×4/6×2) is sufficient.

Therefore, if 5 processes are required at the boarding station and the destination station, the printing time will be 160 ma. Print time is 2001
If it is 118 or less, the automatic ticket gate system will not be affected and the ticket can be processed smoothly. Therefore, the boarding station and the farthest station in the boarding section can be printed during the processing time of the coupon ticket.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an automatic ticket gate according to the present invention. In this figure, the photoelectric switch SWI~
The signal is supplied to an operational amplifier (hereinafter referred to as CPU) 22 via an S W 5 LJ amplifier 20 and a large power gate 21 . Furthermore, the magnetic heads 2 and 3 described above each have an amplifier 23.
．． 24. It is applied to the CPU 22 via the input gate 21. A memory 25 is connected to the CPU 22 as a storage means. The memory 25 stores the arithmetic processing procedures of the CPU 22, and also stores the name of the station where this automatic ticket gate is installed and the station name of the farthest station in each boarding section from the installed station as a dora l-pattern. It has a storage area. Fig. 4 is a diagram showing dot pattern data indicating one of these stored station names, each address has an 8-bit storage area, and the parts other than the part indicated by "1" in Fig. 0 are 0" is stored in the memory 25. In this way, for example, a pattern of the station name "Nagaoka" is stored in the memory 25. The CPU 22 processes the inserted ticket according to this arithmetic processing procedure, and sends the ticket to the exit cover sofa 26. As shown in FIG. 3, the puncher 8, pulse motor 18. Stopper 7.16
．． 17° touch roller 14. ．． 1.5 and the IM feed motor 28. Further, a driver 30 is provided to each CPU 22 via an output sofa 29.
It drives the thermal printing mechanism 12 and 13 of the printing mechanism below.

Next, the operation of the automatic ticket gate according to the present invention will be explained using flowcharts and waveform diagrams. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of this automatic ticket gate, and FIG. 6 is a waveform diagram showing waveforms of various parts.

In FIG. 5, the number cpU22 is not shown using a leader line.
The operation steps are shown. In step 40, this automatic ticket gate checks whether or not a ticket has been inserted based on the output of the photoelectric switch SWI, and when a ticket is inserted, as shown in FIGS. , the inserted ticket is conveyed along the conveyance path 1. Next, in steps 42 and 43, it is detected which of the upper and lower magnetic heads 2.3 is outputting, and the output is as shown in FIG. 6(C). Read the data on the magnetic stripe of the ticket inserted by the person who has it (Step 4)
4.45>. Then, it is stored in the memory 25 whether the information is obtained from the upper or lower magnetic head (step 46
．． 47). Then, proceeding to step 48, it is determined whether the inserted ticket is in the forward direction based on the data obtained from the magnetic stripe.
Check if it is in the opposite direction. This direction determination is shown in Figure 1fb)
This is done by reading the direction pixels 1-til, d2 of the ticket face data written on the magnetic stripe on the back of the ticket as shown in FIG. The process then proceeds to step 51 to determine the validity of the inserted ticket, and if it is not valid, the process proceeds to routine 52 to return the inserted ticket and close the gate to prohibit passengers from passing through. On the other hand, if it is valid, the process proceeds to step 53 and it is checked whether or not cutting scissors are necessary. It is not necessary for commuter passes, but it is necessary for regular tickets and coupon tickets, so operate the stopper 7 as shown in Figure 6(d).
Step 54), proceed to step 55 and set the photoelectric switch S.
From W2, it is checked whether the ticket has reached the position where it should be bunched. When the punching position is reached, the puncher 8 is driven to perform the punching operation (step 56), and the stone puff is turned off.

Then, the inserted ticket is conveyed through the conveyance path 1 again. The process then proceeds to step 58, where it is checked whether the inserted ticket is a coupon ticket.

If it is not a coupon ticket, there is no need to print it, but if it is a coupon ticket, it is necessary to print the name of the station where the ticket was opened, the name of the furthest station in one boarding section, and the date, so proceed to step 59 and check that the inserted coupon ticket is printed. Check if it is pointing upwards. The vertical direction of the coupon ticket is stored in step 7146 or 47, and if it is downward, the process proceeds to step 60 and below, and if it is upward, the process proceeds to step 70 and thereafter, and print mechanism 1
Print by 1 or 10. For example, when the ticket is facing upward, the stopper 16 is operated as shown in FIG. 6 ff1 to (h) (step 70), and the photoelectric switch SW
Check if 3 is on (step 71)
When turned on, the touch solenoid 14a is operated and the coupon ticket is sandwiched between the -remardosol head 12 and the touch roller 14. Then, in step 73, the drive of the stopper 16 is stopped, and the pulse motor 18 is driven (step 73.7.1), so that the coupon ticket is successively advanced to sequentially perform thermal printing. For example, if the inserted ticket is in the forward direction and the station name pattern shown in FIG. Then, station name patterns such as addresses 0016, 0017, and 0002,0003 are sequentially printed in the forward direction by the thermal dot head 12. This printing is performed by synchronizing the rotation of the pulse motor 18 and the increment of the read address shown in FIG. This is because the transport mechanism's one-step transport speed is too fast to print at the same time as transport. Even during printing, the conveyor heald is driven to generally feed the coupon, but since the force to grip the coupon is weak, the coupon gets caught between the roller 14 and the thermal dot head 12. , the station name pattern is printed continuously depending on the driving speed of the pulse smoke 18. By printing in this manner, the name of the station where the train was boarded and the farthest station in the valid section of the ticket are printed. Once completed, the process proceeds to step 76, where the pulse smoke 18 is turned off, and further, the touch solenoid 14a is turned off at step 77.If the ticket is being conveyed in the opposite direction, the station name pattern shown in FIG. In the case of printing, 0011
,0010,0025゜Read and print address 0024, and print addresses 000F and 000F, and addresses 0023 and 002.
The addresses are sequentially read out in the order of address 2 and the same pattern is printed on the coupon face. FIGS. 7(a) and 7(b) are views showing the front side of a ticket that has been printed after passing through an automatic ticket gate according to the present invention, and the name of the station that passed through the automatic ticket gate is written in the center of the ticket.
``Kyoto'' is printed on the ticket surface, and the farthest stations in the valid section of the ticket, ie, ``Katama'' and ``Kusatsu'' are printed simultaneously on the ticket surface.

If the use slot of the ticket is printed immediately below the boarding station as shown in Figure 7 (al), printing can be done in 5 blocks as shown in this figure.On the other hand, step If the inserted ticket is facing downward in step 59, the printing mechanism 1
1, printing is performed, but in this case as well, the printing direction is changed depending on the direction in which the coupon is inserted, i.e., the forward or reverse direction, so that a pattern is printed correctly on the coupon surface. When the printing is completed, the process proceeds to step 80, and it is checked whether or not the coupon 1 normal ticket or ticket has reached the take-out point t70 using the photoelectric switch SW5 (step 80). And Figure 6 (Jl
As shown in FIG. 8, when the paper reaches the take-out port, the transport motor 2B is stopped and the process in step 81) is completed.

In addition, if the lines intersect, the number 6 may be printed and the farthest station to be taken may be 3 or 2, but in such cases it is difficult to print, so please check the boarding station and section. Only numbers shall be printed.

[Brief explanation of the drawings] Figure 1 (al is a front view of the coupon ticket before use, Figure 1 (
bl is the back view, Figure 1 (C1 and Figure 1 (dl) is the front view showing the station name printed after passing through the conventional automatic ticket gate, and Figure 2 is the mechanism showing the configuration of the automatic ticket gate of the present invention. 3 is a block diagram thereof, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a storage pattern for storing station names, FIG. 5 is a flowchart 1 to 1 showing the operation of this embodiment, and FIG. Waveform diagrams showing waveforms, FIGS. 7fa) and 7(b) are diagrams showing the printing state of the coupon ticket after passing through the automatic ticket gate according to the present invention.l-・-1 General transport route 2.3--- ---Magnetic head 6-------- Punch mechanism 7・-----Stopper 8-- Puncher 10, 11-
・-Printing mechanism 12゜1:1--Thermal dot head 22-----CPU 25--------
-Memory SW1 to SW 5---------Ikkou 7 Electrical switch 28-----Transportation morph patent applicant
Tateishi Electric Co., Ltd. Agent Patent Attorney Kanki Okamoto (1 other person) 8 No. 1 (ru) (b) (C1 (d+

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) It has a conveying means for conveying the inserted ticket, a magnetic information reading means for reading the magnetic information of the ticket, and a determining means for determining the validity of the inserted ticket, and the determination result of the determining means In an automatic ticket gate that opens and closes a gate based on a dot printing head provided behind the magnetic information reading means along the line, and when the inserted ticket is a coupon ticket, based on the insertion direction of the coupon read by the magnetic information reading means and the riding section. an automatic ticket gate comprising: printing control means for reading a dot pattern of the station name and the name of the farthest station within the boarding section from the means i and a, and applying the dot pattern to the dot print head to print the dot pattern. (2) The magnetic information reading means is 1il! A plurality of dot print heads are provided along the conveyance path on both sides thereof, and the dot print head is a plurality of dot print heads provided on both sides of the conveyance path, and one of the above-mentioned dot print heads is provided based on the card face information read by the magnetic information reading means. The automatic ticket gate according to claim 1, characterized in that the dot printing head is driven. (3) The automatic ticket gate machine according to claim 1 or 1, wherein the dot printing head is a thermal dot printing head.