JPH035895A - Prepaid card using apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the illegal use of a prepaid card through simple constitution by providing the deletion commanding means of the remaining number of times of use to excite a magnetic head at definite voltage in a state that the prepaid card is held in the inside. CONSTITUTION:The deletion commanding means 10 of the remaining number of times of use to excite the magnetic head 22 in a reader/writer 12 at the definite voltage in the state that the prepaid card is held in the inside is provided. Since the magnetic head 22 is excited at the definite voltage in the state that the prepaid card is held in the inside, even if the prepaid card in the inside is taken out illegally in this state, the prepaid card is deleted at its remaining number of times of use on the way of taking out by the excited magnetic head 22. Thus, the illegal use can be prevented through the simple constitution.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a configuration for preventing unauthorized use in equipment that uses prepaid cards.

(Prior Art) Recently, prepaid cards have been widely used in telephones, various ticket issuing machines, etc., but there are cases where unauthorized use occurs.

In other words, a device that uses a prepaid card uses a magnetic head to read the remaining usage of the prepaid card based on the magnetic recording of the inserted prepaid card, takes the prepaid card into the device, and after the usage time has elapsed, reads the remaining usage of the prepaid card. is rewritten by a magnetic head based on the content of use. For example, in the case of a ticket issuing machine,
After the ticket is issued and before it is rewritten, a stick or the like is inserted into the card to remove the prepaid card and prevent the number of remaining points from being rewritten.

Therefore, in order to prevent such unauthorized use, conventionally, a shutter is provided in the card insertion slot, and the shutter is not opened until the rewriting is completed.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the case of the above configuration, it is necessary to separately provide a shutter mechanism in the insertion port, which results in a complicated structure and a problem of high cost.

The present invention was made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a prepaid card using device that can prevent unauthorized use of a prepaid card with a simple configuration.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention takes an inserted prepaid card into the device, and calculates the number of remaining usage points based on the magnetic recording of the prepaid card during the taking in. A prepaid card using device configured to read the prepaid card with a magnetic head and rewrite the remaining usage number of the prepaid card, which is taken out from inside the head after a usage compatible time, with the magnetic head based on the usage details. The structure includes a command means for erasing the number of remaining power used, which excites the magnetic head at a constant voltage while the magnetic head is taken into the interior.

(Function) According to the configuration of the present invention, since the magnetic head is excited at a constant voltage while the prepaid card is being taken into the interior, even if the prepaid card inside is illegally taken out in that state, While the prepaid card is being taken out, the remaining power of the prepaid card is erased by the excited composite magnetic head.

(Example) Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on an example shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a product exchange ticket issuing machine as a prepaid card-using device of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing its overall configuration.

In the figure, the symbol l is a ticket issuing machine, and its cabinet 2
The front side is a customer service surface 3, and on one side of the inclined surface 4 on the front side is provided a customer service section 5 in which various keys are arranged, and on the other side is provided a takeout section 6 for product exchange tickets. An insertion slot 9 for a prepaid card 8 is provided on one side of the rear vertical surface 7.

In FIG. 2, IO is a control unit as an erasure command means, and a control unit 10 is provided in the cabinet 2. In addition to the above-mentioned customer service department 5, the control unit IO is equipped with a prepaid card 8 provided in the cabinet 2. reader/writer 12, ticket issuing section 13, floppy disk drive section 14, sound generating section 15, external contact 16, door switch 17, power supply device I
8 are connected.

As shown in the simplified side view of FIG. 3, the reader/writer I2 is integrally provided inside the insertion slot 9, and is driven by a motor (not shown) as a means for transporting the prepaid card 8 within the casing 20. A plurality of rollers 21 are disposed, and a composite magnetic head 22 is provided so as to face the transport path formed by these rollers 21. Then, the composite magnetic head 22
A space 23 for receiving a prepaid card 8 is located at a further back position.

The ticket issuing unit 13 includes a printing machine, a ticket cutter, a ticket ejecting mechanism, etc., and a floppy disk attached to a floppy disk drive unit 14 stores various data such as ticket issuing data. The sound generating section 15 is provided so as to face the lower surface of the customer service section 5, and emits key operation sounds in the customer service section 5.

The external contact 16 serves as a connection part to the solid device side using the ticket issuing machine 1 as a terminal. The door switch I7 is provided to actuate and give a signal to the alarm when the door 25 of the cabinet 2 is opened illegally. The power supply circuit 18 is provided to supply driving power to the control unit 10 and the various elements described above.

The operation based on the control of the control section 10 of the ticket issuing machine 1 will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 4.

When a customer who wants to obtain a product exchange ticket inserts the prepaid card 8 from the insertion slot 9 (step S1), the prepaid card 8 is guided into the reader/writer 12 (step S2), and the compound magnetic head is inserted into the prepaid card 8 during its transportation. 22 reads the remaining power, etc. (step S3). The prepaid card 8 that has been read is taken into the receiving space 23, and the prepaid card 8
The conveyance of is stopped (step S4).

Next, it is determined whether or not the ticket can be used based on the above-mentioned read content (step S5). If it is determined that the ticket can be used, input guidance for the desired ticket issuance content is displayed (step S5).
6). If it is determined that the item cannot be used, it will be displayed as unusable (
Step S7).

When the ticket issuing contents are input (step S8), a constant voltage is applied to the composite magnetic head 22 to maintain it in an excited state (step S9), and the ticket issuing unit 13 performs a ticket issuing operation (step 510).

After the ticket issuing operation is completed, the constant voltage supply to the composite magnetic head 22 is stopped (step 511), and the excitation state of the composite magnetic head 22 started in step 9 is released. Thereafter, the conveyance of the prepaid card 8 is started (step 512), and during the conveyance, the remaining usage of the yellowtail bait card 8 is measured by the composite magnetic hept 22, and the amount based on the above ticketing operation details (product exchange ticket amount x number of tickets issued) Rewrite it to the remaining usage amount after subtracting (
Step 5I3), the prepaid card 8 with the rewritten number of remaining cards is ejected from the insertion slot 9 (step 514).
), the transportation of the prepaid card 8 is stopped (step 515).

As mentioned above, since the composite magnetic head 22 is excited with a constant voltage from step 9 to step 2, even if the prepaid card 8 in the take-in space 23 is illegally taken out during that time, the prepaid card 8 cannot be removed during the taking out. 8 is rewritten into a certain pattern by the excited composite magnetic head 22, so that the remaining power is essentially erased.
If the prepaid card 8 is taken out illegally, it is assumed that the prepaid card 8 has no monetary value.

By changing the excitation voltage level at the time of erasing as described above depending on each ticket issuing machine, it is possible to change the erasing pattern of fraudulently used prepaid cards.

(Effects of the Invention) Therefore, according to the present invention, since the magnetic head is excited at a constant voltage while a prepaid card is being taken into the internal device, even if the prepaid card inside is illegally taken out in that state, Since the remaining power of the prepaid card is erased by the excited magnetic head while the card is being taken out, unauthorized use can be prevented with a simple configuration.

[Brief Description of the Drawings] Figures 1 to 4 relate to embodiments of the present invention, in which Figure 1 is an external perspective view of a product exchange ticket issuing machine as a prepaid card usage device of the present invention, and Figure 2 is a FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration, FIG. 3 is a side view of the simplified configuration of the read/writer, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation. 8... Prepaid card, IO... Control means (erase command means), 22... Composite magnetic head, 23... Intake space (inside). Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) The prepaid card to be inserted is taken into the internal unit, and during the loading process, the remaining usage of the prepaid card is read by a magnetic head based on the magnetic recording of the prepaid card, and after the corresponding usage time has elapsed, the remaining usage of the prepaid card is taken out from the internal unit. In a device using a prepaid card configured to rewrite the number of prescriptions using the magnetic head based on the content of usage, the magnetic head is excited at a constant voltage while the prepaid card is taken into the device to determine the number of remaining prescriptions used. A prepaid card-using device characterized by being equipped with erasure command means.