The present invention relates to a handheld admission order marking device for supervising the control of the admission right of persons to dancing halls and similar establishments with controlled admission, said device comprising a signal generator operable by each marking operation thereof to generate an actuator signal, which is recorded by a recorder or counter unit belonging to said device.
Such a marking device is known from US-A-1,405,434. This publication discloses a railway- ticket punch. The punch comprises two jaws for punching or cutting out a ticket receipt and a register which is provided on the top of the jaw. The register records automatically the number of fares, whether cash or ticket fares are received by the conductor.
The use of the known device for the admission control of persons with a valid admission order in the form of a ticket to dancing halls and similar establishments opens up the possibility of irregularities. For example the personnel at the entrance can manipulate with the tickets to cheat the owner or the personnel can be cheated by the guests so that the cash box shows a deficit. A further disadvantage of the known device in that is relatively heavy to handle due to the mechanical system and the way of receiving the receipt.
It is known to use stamp marks which are only visible by lighting with ultra-violet light. This admission control method renders it considerably more difficult for the guests to cheat the personnel but the problem of the personnel cheating the holder or owner still is unsolved.
It is the purpose of the invention to provide a method and a device for the supervision of the admission control of persons to dancing halls and similar establishments with paid admission right and by which it should be possible to avoid cheating of the owner by the guests as well as by the personnel.
The invention therefor provides a device of the above-mentioned kind characterized in that said marking device is constituted by a stamping unit which at least from time to time requires to be supplied with a marking agent as supplied from an associated marking agent source by a recharging operation of the stamping unit similar to said marking operation thereof, in that sensing means are provided for sensing the operation of the stamping unit as being said recharging operation, and in that said sensing means are operatively connected with said signal generator or said recorder unit so that said recharging operation can be effected without being recorded as a marking operation.
The method according to the invention is characterized in that the marking device is caused to generate an actuator signal to a recorder unit by each marking operation thereof. Hereby is obtained a simple device and a safe and just method which renders it possible to supervise the admission control of guests to dancing halls and other establishments with paid admission as each order giving operation of the admission order giving device automatically may be registered in a recorder unit, e.g. at the entrance or in another suitable place of the establishment, such as the office, the bar or the buffet while the recharging operation of the marking device does not affect the count of the admissions. Only the holder or the owner has access to read out the counter of the recorder unit e.g. by means of a master key. Preferably the counter is read out by the owner supervised by the entrance controller having the responsibility of the operation of the admission order giving device. In other words there is obtained a safe and just method of supervising the admission control for establishments with controlled admission, e.g. for payment. Preferably, the marker agent source is a marker pad in association with which said sensor means are provided so as to block up the recorder unit for receiving any signal from the signal generator preferably in the form of a sensor having an actuator located immediately adjacent the active stamp surface of the admission order giving device in the form of said stamp unit.
The invention is described in more detail in the following reference being made to the accompanying drawing, in which:-
The system shown in Fig. 1 comprises a housing 2 adapted to be placed e.g. on a table, near the entrance of an establishment such as a dancing hall. The housing contains the necessary elec-- tronic circuit elements of the system including an electronic counter of which a display 4 is placed in an inclined front of the housing 2. On a lower top side 6 of the housing in front of the display a holder 8 for a marker stamp unit 10 is bult in, said unit 10 being connected to the circuit elements inside the housing 2 by means of a flexible wire 12. Furthermore, the inclined front of the housing is provided with a master key operated switch 14 by means of which the counter may be read out through the display 4 or the key switch 14 may be turned into a position enabling the counter and the display 4to be reset by means of a reset pushbutton 16. At the left hand side of the holder 8 another key operated switch 18 is placed adapted for the use of the entrance controller in charge of controlling the status of the counter via the display 4.
At the right hand side of the holder 8 is arranged a key operated lock 20 for the marker stamp unit 10 when said unit is positioned in the holder 8 (Fig. 2).
The marker stamp unit 10 is shown in more detail in Fig. 2 where the stamp unit 10 furthermore is locked up in the holder 8 by means of a locking bolt 22 of a key operated lock 20 cooperating with a side recess 24 of the stamp unit 10 through a side opening 26 of a cup-shaped portion 28 of the holder 8. In the bottom of the cup portion 28 a soft marker pad 30 is positioned, said pad being moistened by marker fluid, e.g. of the type used for marking stamp mark which is only visually controllable under ultra-violet lighting. The stamp unit 10 is provided with a rubber stamp surface 32, the center area of which being exposed to a downwardly directed press by means of a spring loaded actuator pin 34, the upper opposite end of which cooperates with a signal generator in the form of a microswitch 36 which during normal operation communicates with the counter circuit of the recorder of the admission control system.
In normal operation according to the method of the invention the stamp unit 10 is released from the holder 8 and used as a handheld stamp unit 10, each admission order giving operation thereof effects the micro switch 36 by the pressure on the stamp surface 32 and the actuator pin 34 to generate a signal to the recorder or counter of the system. Each time the stamp surface 32 is exposed to the pressure of the giving of an admission order in the form of a stamp mark, e.g. on the back of a hand, this is registered as an admission order giving operation in the recorder unit. However, from time to time the stamp surface 32 of the stamp unit 10 has to be remoistened with marker fluid from the marker pad 30 in the bottom of the cup-shaped portion 28 of the holder 8 and as this recharging operation is almost similar to the admission order giving operation ofthe stamp unit 10, the holder 8 or the cup-shaped portion 28 is provided with a sensor coil 38 communicating with a metal ring member 40 positioned around the lower end of the stamp unit 10 so as to enable the recharging operation to be effected without being recorded as an admission order giving operation of the stamp unit 10. In other words, the ring member 40 of the stamp unit 10 and the sensor coil 38 of the holder 8 belong to a blocking circuit for blocking up the recorder unit from receiving any counting signal from the stamp unit 10 when this is inserted into the holder 8. Of course the active sensor portion, i.e. the coil 38, may also be a part of the stamp unit while in this case the ring member 40 should be positioned in connection with the holder 8. Other suitable sensor means may be used for sensing the recharging operation of the stamp unit 10 as being not an admission order giving operation thereof.
The key operated lock 20 is adapted to lock up the stamp unit 10 in the holder 8 if the entrance controller using the stamp unit 10 has an errand and therefore wants to block up the countingof the admission order giving as he alone carries the responsibility for the contents of the entrance cash box corresponding to the figures of the counter.
In order to prevent any possibility of irregularities of the recorder unit said unit comprises aninternal energy source in the form of a rechargeable electric battery which is automatically switched on in case the external electric power supply should be interrupted. Also the wire connection between the stamp unit 10 and the recorder unit forms part of a security circuit for the said blocking up circuit of the counter. Therefore, if the wire connection between the stamp unit 10 and the recorder unit inside the housing 2 is interrupted, e.g. by removal of the stamp unit by force, the blocking up circuit will immediately be acti- vatedto block the receiving of further signals of the counter.
The display 4 of the counter is controlled in such a manner that it shows a row of pure zeros after resetting the counter by activating the master key operated key switch 14 and the reset pushbutton 16. When the entrance controllerthen activates the stamp unit 10 by the very first admission order giving operation, the display 4 is switched off and the entrance controller operating the stamp unit can only once call for the contents of the counter via the display by means of his own key switch 18. Otherwise the master key operated key switch 14 any time may be used to call forthe actual contents of the counter via the display 4.
Preferably, the main unit of the housing 2 is connected to one or more remote control units with a display similar to the display 4 and with a master key operated key switch also. The remote control units operates of course parallel to the main unit and they may be positioned in any suitable place in the establishment, e.g. in the office, the bar or the buffet.