JPH0343889A - Dispenser - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To always accurately record balance data of a card by comparing data of the amount of balance after the drawing operation with stored data of the amount of balance before the drawing operation. CONSTITUTION:Though it is indistinct whether the drawing operation was performed or not because trouble like a power failure or voltage reduction occurs during the drawing operation of a card reader/writer 14, a microcomputer 24 reads in subtraction data C of the card reader/writer 14 again after the occurrence of this trouble and compares this data C and data A of the balance before the drawing operation with each other. When two data coincide with each other, it is distinct that the drawing operation of the card reader/writer 14 was not performed, and the card reader/writer 14 draws the amount of money corresponding to subtraction data C from a card 12 again by the indication from the microcomputer 23. Thus, balance data of the card is accurately recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a vending machine that can sell goods using cards such as prepaid cards, that is, card-like private valuables.

[Prior Art and Problems to be Solved] Conventionally, in a vending machine in which a card reader/writer is controlled by a control unit, data of the balance amount recorded on the card read by the card reader/writer (hereinafter referred to as balance data) is used. The withdrawal operation was performed under the control of a withdrawal command from the control unit.

However, if the power to the card reader/writer is cut off due to a problem such as a power outage or voltage drop during this withdrawal operation, the control unit cannot determine whether or not the card reader/writer has completed the withdrawal operation for the balance data. There was a problem in that it was not possible to identify accurate balance data.

[Purpose of the Invention] The present invention provides a vending machine that can accurately determine the remaining balance data of a card even if a problem occurs in which the power is cut off due to a power outage, voltage drop, etc. during the withdrawal operation of the card reader/writer. It is something to do.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In the vending machine of the present invention, which operates to withdraw the balance data recorded on the card by the card reader/writer, the balance data before the withdrawal operation is stored, and the balance data recorded on the card is withdrawn. The balance data after the operation is compared with the stored balance data before the withdrawal operation, and if these two data are the same, the balance data is withdrawn again.

[Function] In the vending machine having the above configuration, the card reader/writer stores the balance data of the card before the debit operation, and then performs the debit operation.

Then, two pieces of data, the balance data after the withdrawal operation and the stored balance data before the withdrawal operation, are compared.

If the compared data are the same, it means that no debit operation has been performed by the card reader/writer, and the debit operation for the balance data is performed again.

[Example] Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

The cigarette vending machine (lO) of this embodiment can sell coins, banknotes, and cards (12).

The structure of this vending machine (IO) will be explained based on the block diagram of FIG.

(14) is a card reader/writer. This card reader/writer (14) can read and write balance data from the inserted card (12).Also, after deducting data for the amount of cigarettes to be purchased from the card (12), the card reader/writer (14) outputs the end signal SS.

(16) is a power cutoff detection sensor. This power cutoff detection sensor (16) performs the initial shutdown of the system of the card reader/writer (I4>) when the voltage supplied to the card reader/writer (14> falls below a certain value).

(18> is a product sales mechanism, which is equipped with a column (22), a sales button (20>, etc.) like a conventional vending machine.
0) is output as withdrawal data B.

(24> is a microcomputer (hereinafter referred to as a microcomputer). This microcomputer (24>) has, for example, a human output port (2 [1) (hereinafter referred to as an I10 port), a central processing unit (28), (Hereinafter referred to as CPU.

), and memory (30).The human output signal from the card reader/writer (14) and the debit data B from the product sales organization (18) are sent to the CPU (28) through the I10 boat (2B). The microcomputer (24) also sends a debit signal IIs that instructs the card reader/writer (14) to perform a debit operation.
The card reader/writer (i) sends a card ejection signal DS to eject the card (12) from the
4) Output to.

In the vending machine (IO) with the above configuration, the card (12
) to explain the operating conditions when purchasing cigarettes.

First, the operating state of the card reader/writer (14) in the withdrawal mode will be explained based on the flowchart of FIG.

In step 1, when acceptance of the card (12>) to the card reader/writer (14>) is confirmed, the process proceeds to step 2.

In step 2, the balance data A currently recorded on the card (12) is read, and the process proceeds to step 3.

In step 3, the balance data A is transferred to the microcomputer (24).
Output to , and proceed to step 4.

In step 4, when the withdrawal data B is manually entered from the microcomputer (24), the process proceeds to step 5.

In step 5, the debit data B is subtracted from the balance data A to calculate the new debit data C remaining on the card (12), and in step 6, the debit data C is calculated.
is output to the microcomputer (24), and the process proceeds to step 7.

In step 7, if a withdrawal signal Its is manually inputted from the microcomputer (24), the process proceeds to step 8, and if not input, the process proceeds to step 13.

In step 8, the balance data A recorded on the card (12>) is rewritten to subtraction data C. That is, a debit operation is performed and the process proceeds to step 9.

In step 9, a completion signal SS indicating that the withdrawal operation has been completed is output to the microcomputer (24), and the process proceeds to step 10.

In step 10, if the withdrawal signal Its is manually inputted from the microcomputer (24), the process returns to step 8, and if not manually, the process proceeds to step 11.

In step 11, when the card ejection signal DS is input manually, in step 12, the card reader/writer (i4
〉, eject the card (12) that is t1'i,
Move on to the next action.

By the way, during the above-mentioned withdrawal mode, the power cutoff detection sensor (1B) detects the power cutoff, and the card reader/writer (
When the system is initialized in step 14), the balance data A or the deduction data C is read in again and outputted to the microcomputer (24), and the process returns to the withdrawal mode.

Next, the card read/write command mode of the microcomputer (24) will be explained based on the flowchart of FIG.

In step 21, when the balance data A is input from the card reader/writer (14), the balance data A is stored in the memory (30) in step 22, and in step 23
Proceed to.

In step 23, when the amount B corresponding to the amount of the sold product is manually debited from the product sales organization (18),
In step 24, the withdrawal data B is stored in the memory (30), and the process proceeds to step 25.

In step 25, the debit data B is output to the card reader/writer (14), and the process proceeds to step 26.

In step 26, when the subtraction data C is input from the card reader/writer (14), the process proceeds to step 27.

In step 27, if the subtraction data C is zero or more, the process proceeds to step 28, and if it is less than zero, the process proceeds to step 33.

In step 28, the withdrawal signal IIs is output to the card reader/writer (14), and the process proceeds to step 2.

In step 2, if the subtraction data C has been input again due to the power cut off of the card reader/writer (14), the process proceeds to step 30, and if there is no human power, the process proceeds to step 31.

In step 30, the subtraction data C is replaced with the newly input subtraction data C, and the process proceeds to step 31.

In step 31, when the end signal SS is input, the process proceeds to step 32.

In step 32, balance data A and deduction data C are
If they are equal, the process returns to step 28; if they are not equal, the process proceeds to step 33.

In step 33, the card ejection signal DS is output to the card reader/writer (14>) and the process moves to the next operation.

Therefore, in the vending machine (lO) of this embodiment, if a trouble such as a power outage or voltage drop occurs during a withdrawal operation of the card reader/writer (14), it is unclear whether the withdrawal operation has been performed or not. In some cases, even if there is a microcomputer (24
), but after this trouble occurred, the card reader/writer (
Read the deduction data C of 14> and compare the balance data A of the card (12) before the withdrawal operation and this deduction data C.
is compared with. Therefore, if these two data are the same, it becomes clear that the card reader/writer (14) has not performed a withdrawal operation, so in this case, the card reader/writer (14) is
24>, the amount corresponding to the deduction data 0 is withdrawn from the card (12) again. Therefore, the balance data of the card (12) can always be accurately recorded.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, the vending machine of the present invention can prevent troubles such as power outage from occurring during the withdrawal operation of the card reader/writer.
Even if it is unknown whether or not a withdrawal was made, the balance data before and after the withdrawal is compared, so if this data is the same, it can be determined that no withdrawal was made. It becomes clear. In this case, since the debit operation is performed again from the card, the balance data of the card can always be accurately recorded.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a vending machine showing an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a flowchart of the card reader/writer debit mode, and Fig. 3 is a flowchart of the microcomputer's quadriwriter command mode. be. Explanation of symbols 10...Vending machine 12...Card 14...Cardry dryer 24...Microcomputer applicant Shibaura Manufacturing Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In a vending machine that performs a withdrawal operation of the data of the amount of the balance recorded on the card by the card reader/writer, the data of the amount of the balance before the withdrawal operation is stored and the data of the amount of the balance before the withdrawal operation is performed. Compare the remaining balance amount data after the withdrawal operation with the stored balance amount data before the debit operation, and if these two data are the same, the debit operation for the remaining balance amount data is performed again. A vending machine featuring