SPECIFICATIONImprovements in and relating to revenue recording and processing systems and apparatus thereforThis invention relates to a data recording and processing system and apparatus therefor and particularly but not exclusively to a revenue data collection, recording and processing system for use in connection with public service vehicles such as buses.
One specific object of the invention is to provide a data recording and processing system and apparatus therefor for use with public service vehicles wherein data relating to the collection of revenue is recorded in a ticket issuing machine in the vehicle, and means at a data processing station located at, for instance, a public service vehicle depot is arranged to interface with the machine to provide a visual indication of the data recorded in the machine and means responsive to the data for revenue accounting and statistical analysis of the data.
According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a data recording and processing system comprising a portable data collector unit provided with means for recording data indicative of an event, and means located at a location remote from the place of use of the collector unit and to which the collector unit can be transported, and arranged to interfere with the collector unit to provide a visual indication of the data recorded by the collector unit together with further data related to the event.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a revenue data recording and processing system for use in connection with public service vehicles comprising a portable unit including a ticket issuing machine arranged to be located and used in the vehicle and provided with means for recording data indicative inter alia of the number of tickets issued by the machine and the number of tickets of each fare value issued by the machine and means located at a location remote from the vehicle and arranged to interfere with the machine to provide a visual indication of the data recorded by the machine together with data indicative of the value of the tickets issued by the machine.
According to a further feature of the invention, further means are provided responsive to the data produced at said remote location to provide revenue accounting and statistical analysis data.
in one embodiment of the invention applicable to a revenue data recording and processing system and apparatus for use in connection with buses, the ticket issuing machine is located in a bus either as part of automatic fare collection apparatus, or carried by ticket issuing personnel such as a conductor, with means for recording the data recorded in the machine located at a bus depot such as a garage.
The revenue accounting and statistical analysis data processing unit may be located at the said depot or at some central location where a computer would be provided to receive data from the recording means at the depot. However, the invention is not limited to public service vehicle systems employing buses and may be utilised wherever it is necessary to provide an indication of data generated in response to the occurrence of any event and subsequent conversion to information related to the event.
The invention will now be described by way of example only with particular reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:Figure lisa block diagram of a portable data collector unit for the data collection mode of the system and apparatus of the present invention;Figure 2 is a block diagram of the data collector unit of Figure 1 interfaced with data recording and processing means at a remote location;Figure 3 illustrates data visually indicated by a reader at the remote location following interface of the reader with the ticket issuing machine from a bus, andFigures 4 and 5 illustrate correct and faulty data respectively printed out by the means located at the remote location.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention applicable to fare revenue data collection and processing, the ticket issuing machine on a bus, is provided with data storage means arranged to store data representing the number of a machine installed in a bus or issued to an individual conductor, the storage device preferably having a capacity to accommodate numbers up to 19999. The system of the present invention includes means for identifying the ticket issuing machine by means of a specific interrogation signal. This feature is particularly useful for, for example, radio controlled bus locations where the identity of a ticket machine can be related to a specific bus running number.The machine is also equipped to store data representing the number of tickets of any particular value issued by the machine up to a total of 9999 and capable of dealing for instance with up to 9 different individual ticket values. The machine is also provided with means to store data indicative of the total number of tickets issued by the machine up to for example, a total of 9999 tickets; the latter data being generated independently of the previously mentioned data generated by the machine.
An important feature of the present invention is that the data generated by and stored in the machine has no reference to any monetary value, this function being performed by the reading device installed at the depot, thus permitting the same ticket issuing machines to be used irrespective of any fare revisions without requiring any modifications to be made to the machines to accommodate such fare revisions.
The data recording equipment is provided at a suitable location at the depot. Power supply would normally be from the mains but with in-built provisions for alternative sources of power in the event of an electrical mains supply failure. In the event of a total electrical supply failure from any source, the reading device will automatically close down and provide a signal to this effect. The reading device is designed to reject corrupted data orto close down and provide a signal to this effect, by employing suitable data transmission techniques together with a built-in self testing facility.
The data supplied from the ticket issuing machine is read by the reading device and visually displayed such visual display having a manual testfeature-to inhibit the display of incorrect or incomplete information.
A storage device is incorporated in the data reading device to provide a data store for use with a revenue control and statistical analysis computer.
The system of the invention will include a facility permitting reprogramming in the event of fare changes.
Referring nowspecificallyto Figure 1 of the drawings, the portable data collector unit for performing the data collection mode of the system of the present invention comprises a data collector 1 which in the case of public service vehicles such as buses would be the ticket or token issuing machine, which receives power from a power supply 2 and supplies data to, and receives data from a data storage device 3. The identity of the data collector is established by means of an interrogation signal supplied from the unit identity means 4 to the data collector 1. Signals indicative of the event are supplied on ten signal lines to the data collector 1 via an interface unit 5 on the portable data collector unit.
As shown in Figure 2, the event signals and data signals from the data collector 1 of the portable data collector unit pass between the collector unit and a data reader console located at a remote location such as the bus depot, the signals passing via interface units 5 and 6. The console unit includes a data reader/analyser 7 for converting and processing the signals received from the portable unit (Figure 1).
As previously indicated, the power supply would normally be from the mains but a back-up power supply 8 is provided for an alternative source of power in the event of an electrical mains supply failure. Output signals from the data reader/analyser 7 are visually recorded in visual display unit (VDU) 9 and recorded on for instance disc or tape storage device in the data store 10. A print-out of data output from the reader/analyser 7 is effected in the printer unit 11.
Referring now to Figure 3, when the ticket issuing machine 1 used on a bus is coupled to the data reading device 7 at the depot and a 'READ' button on the VDU is depressed, the data stored in the machine is read to provide electrical signals for energising the visual display unit 9. The visual display shown inFigure 3 is an acceptable display where the display corresponds to the data read from the machine. As shown, the VDU 9 displays the reader identity shown for example as RDR 123 together with data indicative of the time, date and the state of the battery in the ticket issuing machine i.e. whether the battery is operating correctly or is faulty and requires changing. The ticket machine number is shown as No. 372.
The VDU 9 displays the number of tickets of each of the fare values 1p to 9p inclusive issued by the machine, the left hand column indicating the ticket codes, the middle column indicating the ticket values and the right hand column indicates the number of tickets of each fare value issued by the machine. The total number of tickets issued is shown as 45 and an independent check total of the number of tickets issued is also provided. The cash due is indicated on the bottom line of the VDU.If the driver/operator or conductor issued with machine No. 372 is satisfied that the data displayed corresponds to the data recorded in the machine and accepts the data displayed, then by depression of an 'ACCEPT' button on the VDU, a print out operation of the data displayed is effected in duplicate on a print-out slip (see Figure 4) giving a duplicate of the information displayed on the VDU, the print-out being effected by printer unit 11 (Figure 2).
Should the sum of the ticket sales from the nine individual fare registers not correspond to the total number of tickets sold, as indicated in the VDU 9, the reader 7 is programmed to print the information indicated in Figure 5 but with the additional legend 'accept cash paid in'. This allows a check to be made subsequently on the ticket machine to determine the nature of the defect. However, before performing such a check an immediate check can be made by depression of the 'DISPLAY CHECK' button on theVDU. This causes all 'healthy' elements of the visual display to register a check digit for each item of information and thus any item displaying other than a check digit indicates a faulty element which is preferably a light-emitting diode.Thus, the driver/ operator or conductor person can satisfy themselves that the display unit is functioning correctly before accepting the data displayed. Depression of the 'ACCEPT' button will inhibit operation of any of the remaining buttons so as to preclude any accidental or deliberately induced malfunction of the system.
Depression of the 'ACCEPT' button will cause the following data to be entered into the data storage device 10 associated with the reader 7 for subsequenttransmission to a computer for revenue data and statistical analysis viz. the current data, the identity number of the ticket machine, the number of each individual ticket sale, and in the case of a print out legend 'accept cash paid in' a coded signal indicative of this fact.
The final function performed by the reader unit by depression of the 'ACCEPT' button is to reset to zero the ticket machine data store 3 and the visual display panel 9will indicate that this has been done by resetting all digits on the screen to zero the L.E.D's being extinguished automatically when the ticket machine 1 is disconnected from the reading device 7.
In the event of an 'accept cash paid in' legend appearing on the print-out slip, the ticket machine store is not reset to zero, thereby signifying that an independent check on the correct function of the ticket machine is required.
It will be appreciated that the invention is susceptible to considerable modification and has been described by way of example only with particular reference to a ticket issuing machine and revenue collection and recording system for use with public service vehicles such as buses but it will be appreciated that the invention is applicable to other than public service vehicles and to any situation where a visual record is required of events.