JPH08335360A - Hotel system for using card - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To obtain the hotel system for utilizing a hotel only by a customer card by writing key information on the customer card issued to a customer at the time of lodging and enabling the customer to use the customer card as a card key for unlocking a room to stay in. CONSTITUTION: Key information inputted from a setting part 6 via a slit part 8 is written in a data part 4A provided on one end part of the customer card 4 by an encoder 1 at the check-in time for lodging a customer. As to the key information, etc., a room desired by the customer is confirmed in a short time based on the state of rooms remaining unocupied and the using conditions under the always accurate management of a host computer 2. A room number, check-in time, expected check-out time, etc., for the customer are printed out by a printer 3. Consequently, the customer card can be used as the card key for unlocking the room, and hence the hotel system for utilizing the hotel by the customer card only is thus obtained.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a hotel system using a card, and more particularly to a hotel system using a card equipped with a customer card and a card key.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a hotel with a large number of rooms, a computer is always used to manage accurate remaining room status and reservation information to speed up reservation operations and improve services, while checking in. By entering the room number, check-in time, scheduled check-out time, etc. into the computer, it is always possible to accurately manage the remaining room status and the usage status of each room.

By the way, in a hotel equipped with such a computer, at the time of check-in, the guest fills in a predetermined form at the front with his / her name, age, sex, address, etc.
The hotel man tries to enter this information into the computer, but this makes check-in time consuming and troublesome.

Therefore, recently, a customer card (members card) in which various kinds of customer information such as name, age, sex, company name, customer identification number, etc. are recorded for customers.
At the same time as issuing, please ask the front desk to submit a customer card, read this card with a card reading device and directly input various customer information to the computer so that check-in can be done in a short time. There is a hotel system.

By the way, when checking in, the user is handed the room key, but the normal room key is heavy and bulky, so recently the lock provided at the door of each room is used as a card type lock. And then
There is a hotel system that keeps the keys bulky.
It should be noted that key information for unlocking the card type lock is recorded in this card key in the form of magnetic information, for example.

[0006]

However, in such a card-using hotel system equipped with a customer card and a card key, the customer must have two cards, a customer card and a card key, when using the hotel. However, there is a problem that it is troublesome to manage and easily lost. It should be noted that if the customer has many hotel customer cards, this problem becomes even more pronounced.

[0007] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a hotel system using a card in which a hotel can be used only with a customer card.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and a customer card issued to a customer and having various customer information recorded thereon,
In the hotel system using a card, the customer card can be used as a card key by writing key information for unlocking the room at the time of accommodation.

Further, the customer card has a data portion consisting of a first recording area and a second recording area, various customer information is recorded in the first recording area at the time of issuance, and the second recording area at the time of accommodation. The key feature is that the key information is written in.

[0010]

With the above structure, by writing the key information at the time of accommodation in the customer card issued to the customer, the customer card can be used as a card key for unlocking the room.

Also, this customer card is used as a card key because various customer information is recorded in the first recording area of the data section at the time of issuance, while key information is written in the second recording area of the data section at the time of accommodation. can do.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a hotel system using a card according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, 1 is an encoder, 2 is a host computer, and 3 is a printer. Here, the encoder 1 is for writing key information and the like to the customer card 4 at the time of check-in at the time of accommodation, and includes a number button 5 and a mode setting button 5a for designating a room number and the like. A setting unit 6 in which various buttons are arranged, a display unit 7 for displaying the contents set by the setting unit 6, and a slit unit for writing key information and the like in a data unit 4A provided at one end of the customer card 4. 8 and.

An information signal generator (not shown) for generating an information signal such as key information corresponding to the room number designated by the setting unit 6 is mounted inside the encoder 1. When the room number is specified by operating the number buttons 5, this information signal generator is a key for releasing the card type lock 9 as shown in FIG. 2 attached to the door of the room of the specified number. It is designed to generate information.

In FIG. 2, 9a is a knob.
Further, 9b is a horizontally long keyhole for inserting the customer card 4 in which the key information and the like are inserted, and inside the keyhole 9b, a reading device (not shown) for reading the key information and the like written in the customer card 4 is provided. It is distributed. The lock can be released only when the key information read by the reading device and the data set in advance for each card type lock 9 match.

On the other hand, on the inner wall surface of the slit portion 8, a magnetic head (not shown) for writing the key information and the like generated by the information signal generator into the customer card 4 is arranged, and the setting unit 6 sets the room number. After the designation, the data portion 4A of the customer card 4 is inserted into the slit portion 8 and slid in the arrow direction shown in FIG.
Passes through the inside of the slit portion 8 while facing the magnetic head, and at this time, key information and the like are written in the data portion 4A by the magnetic head.

The data section 4A has a first recording area 4a for recording various customer information and a second recording area 4b for writing key information and the like as shown in FIG. When you slide the
Key information and the like are written in the recording area 4b. In addition, various customer information, when issuing the customer card 4,
The data is recorded in the first recording area 4a.

By the way, in this embodiment, at the time of check-in, the encoder 1 writes not only the room number but also the check-in time and the scheduled check-out time into the customer card 4, and the information is stored in the host computer 2. I am trying to enter.

By inputting the designated room number, check-in time, and scheduled check-out time in this way, the host computer 2 can always manage the accurate state of the remaining room and the state of use of the room. Has become. Further, in this way, the host computer 2 always manages the accurate remaining room status and the usage status of the room, so that at the time of check-in, the remaining room status of the room desired by the customer, for example, a single, twin, or double room. Can be checked in a short time, and the time required for check-in can be shortened.

On the other hand, the room number, the check-in time, and the scheduled check-out time input to the host computer 2 are printed out by the printer 3 and given to the customer together with the customer card 4. After this, the customer goes to the room of the number printed out and puts the customer card 4 on which the key information and the like are written in the card lock 9
The lock can be released by inserting it into the insertion hole 9a, and the user can enter the room.

By the way, the customer card 4 has such a structure that the written key information or the like does not disappear until new key information or the like is written next. Therefore, for example, even after the scheduled check-out time has passed, a customer who has been using the room until then can use the customer card 4 to illegally enter the room.

Therefore, in order to prevent such unauthorized use of the customer card 4, in this embodiment, the check-in time, the check-in time, and the scheduled check-out time are written in the second recording area 4b as described above. On the other hand, when the customer card 4 is inserted, the card type lock 9 reads not only the key information but also the check-in time and the scheduled check-out time.

By reading the check-in time and the scheduled check-out time in addition to the key information, the customer card 4 is inserted at a time other than the time from the check-in time to the scheduled check-out time. If the key information matches, the lock is not released.

As a result, after the scheduled check-out time has passed, the customer who has been using the room until then, or any other person who has picked up the customer card 4 cannot use the customer card 4 to enter the room. It is possible to prevent unauthorized use of the customer card 4.

The customer may lose the customer card 4 before the scheduled check-out time. In this case, the card-type lock 9 is used to prevent the lost customer card from being unlocked illegally. The setting data is changed by inserting a setting change card into the card lock 9.

Next, the method of using the customer card in the card-using hotel system configured as described above will be described.

First, at the time of check-in, when the customer card 4 is received from the customer, the host computer 2 at the front desk.
Depending on the room desired by the customer, eg single, twin,
Encoder 1 after checking the state of the remaining room such as double
The room number is designated by operating the number buttons 5 and the like of the setting section 6 of, and the check-in time and the scheduled check-out time are set.

When the room number is designated in this way, the information signal generator gives information corresponding to the key information for unlocking the card lock 9 attached to the door of the designated number room. The signal is generated and the information signal corresponding to the check-in time and the scheduled check-out time is generated.

Next, after designating the room number in this way,
The data section 4A of the customer card 4 is inserted into the slit section 8 and slid. Here, when the customer card 4 is slid in this way, the data section 4A of the customer card 4 comes to pass through the inside of the slit section 8 while facing the magnetic head. At this time, the key information from the information signal generator is sent. The check-in time and the scheduled check-out time are written in the data section 4A by the magnetic head.

On the other hand, the room number, check-in time, and scheduled check-out time are printed out by the printer 3 and passed to the customer together with the customer card 4. Then, the customer can go to the room having the designated number, insert the customer card 4 into the insertion hole 9a of the card type lock 9, unlock the lock, and enter the room.

In this way, check-in can be simplified by using the customer card 4, and
At check-in, the customer card 4 can be used as a card key by writing the key information in the customer card 4.

In the above description, the setting data of the card-type lock 9 is changed by inserting a card for setting change into the card-type lock 9, but as shown in FIG. 4, for example. When the host computer 2 and the card lock 9 are online, the setting data can be changed by a change signal from the host computer 2.

On the other hand, in the above description, various customer information, key information, etc. are recorded or written in the form of magnetic information, so that the customer card 4 must be a magnetic card. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the customer card 4 may be configured with an IC card having a large storage capacity and a low manufacturing cost.

By constructing the customer card 4 with an IC card having a large storage capacity in this way, for example, information for identifying the encoder of another hotel in the first storage area 4a, its writing format, etc. Information can be stored.

By storing such information, the key information can be written in the customer card 4 by any hotel encoder, so that even a customer who uses many hotels can use one card. As long as it is available, it can be used at any hotel, and the convenience of customers when using the hotel can be improved.

Further, in the above description, the customer card 4 has been described as being used at the time of check-in, but the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, each facility in a hotel may be provided with the encoder 1. Then, when the facility is used, if the fee is written in the customer card 4 by the encoder 1, the customer can use the facility of the hotel without carrying cash as long as he has the customer card 4. You can use the hotel like a "My Room".

[0038]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to use the customer card as a card key by writing the key information at the time of accommodation in the customer card, so that the hotel can be used with one customer card. Like By allowing the hotel to be used with one customer card in this way, the management of the card becomes simple and the possibility of loss can be reduced. Also, by using the customer card as a card key in this way, the hotel side basically does not need the card key either, so that the hotel side also has the effect of being able to save the trouble of managing the card key. Become.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a hotel system using a card according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a card-type lock released by a customer card.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of a data section of the customer card.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a hotel system using a card according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Encoder 2 Host Computer 4 Customer Card 4A Data Section 4a First Recording Area 4b Second Recording Area 9 Card Lock

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. The customer card can be used as a card key by issuing key information for unlocking the room at the time of accommodation to a customer card that is issued to the customer and records various customer information. A card-based hotel system that is characterized by this. 2. The customer card includes a first recording area and a second recording area.
It has a data part consisting of a recording area, various customer information is recorded in the first recording area at the time of issuance, and the key information is written in the second recording area at the time of accommodation. The hotel system using the card according to claim 1.