A METHOD OF SUPERVISING THE ADMISSION CONTROL TO DANCING HALLS ETC. AND A SYSTEM FOR PERFORMING THE METHOD

Abstract: A method of supervising the control of the admission right of persons to dancing halls and similar establishments with controlled admission and by which the persons are given a verifyable admission order by means of handheld admission order giving device which is caused to generate an actuator signal to a recorder unit by each order giving operation of the admission order giving device in the form of a stamp unit (10), which at least from time to time is supplied with a marking agent as supplied from an associated marking agent source (30) by a recharging operation of the stamp unit (10) similar to said order giving operation thereof. Sensor means (38, 40) are provided for sensing the operation of the stamp unit (10) as being said recharging operation, said sensor means (38, 40) being operatively connected to said signal generator (36) or said recorder unit so as enable the recharging operation to be effected without being recorded as an order giving operation. Hereby it is possible to use a rather simple handheld stamp unit in combination with an electronic recorder with a counter for the supervising of a safe and just admission control to establishments with admission for payment.

Description: A Method of Supervising the Admission Control to Dancing Halls etc. and a System for Performing the Method. The present invention relates to a method of super¬ vising the control of the admission right of persons to dancing halls and similar establishments with controlled admission and by which the persons are given a verifyable admission order by means of a handheld admission order giving device. The admission control of persons with valid ad¬ mission order, e.g. to dancing halls and similar estab¬ lishments with paid admission right opens up the possibi- lity of irregularities. By way of example the personnel at the entrance can manipulate with the admission orders so that the owner of the establishment is cheated by the settl¬ ing with the owner - or. the personnel can be cheated by the guests so that the cash box shows a deficit by the settling with the owner. In order to prevent such irregular assignmentor re¬ use of admission orders in the form of simple ticket an additional controller may be used for collection of the ticket again after the cash and for issuing tickets again to guests who have a temporary errand outside the estab¬ lishment - or a direct stamp marking of the guests can be used by which the guest simply are provided with a stamp mark on the skin, e.g. on the back of a hand. In this connection it is known to use stamp marks which are only visible by lighting with ultra-violet light. This ad¬ mission control method renders it considerably more diffi¬ cult for the guests to cheat the personnel while the pro¬ blem of the personnel cheating the holder or owner still is unsolved. It is the purpose of the invention to provide a me¬ thod of supervising the admission control of persons to dancing halls and similar establishments with paid admissi¬ on right and by which it should be possible to avoid & O PI cheating of the owner by the guests as well as by the personnel. According to the invention a method is provided, said method being characterized in that the order giving device is caused to generate an actuator signal to a re¬ corder unit by each order giving operation thereof. Here¬ by is obtained a simple, safe and just method which renders it possible to supervise the admission control of guests to dancing halls and other establishments with paid admis- sion as each order giving operation of the admission order giving device automatically may be registered in a recor¬ der unit, e.g. at the entrance or in another suitable place of the establishment, such as the office, the bar or the buffet. 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. Furthermore, the invention relates to a system for performing the method according to the invention and com¬ prising an admission order giving device in the form of a handheld marking device comprising a signal generator operable by each order giving operation thereof to gene¬ rate an actuator signal, which is registered by a recor¬ der or counter unit belonging to the system. Preferably, the admission order giving device is a stamp 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 stamp unit similar to said order giving operation thereof, and com¬ prising sensor means for sensing the operation of the stamp unit as being said recharging operation. Said sen¬ sor means are operatively connected with the.signal gene- rator or with the recorder unit of the system so as to en¬ able the recharging operation of the stamp unit to be ef¬ fected without being recorded as an order giving operation thereof. Appropriately, the marker agent source is a mar- ker 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 ad¬ jacent the active stamp surface of the admission order gi- ving device in the form of said stamp unit. The invention is described in more detail in the following reference being made to the accompanying dra¬ wing, in which:- Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of an admission control system according to the invention, while Fig. 2 is a view partly in section of a stamp unit of the system according to the invention. 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 electronic circuit elements of the system including an electronic counter of which a display 4 is placed in an inclined front of the cousing 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 built 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 coun¬ ter may be read out through the display 4 or the key switch 14 may be turned into a position enabling the coun¬ ter and the display 4 to 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. CϊvϊP 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 por- tion 28 a soft marker pad 30 is positioned, said pad being moistened by marker fluid, e.g. of the type used for mark¬ ing stamp mark which is only visually controlable under ultra-violet lightning. 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 micro switch 36 which during normal operation communi¬ cates with ' the counter circuit of the recorder of the ad- mission control system. In normal operaton 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 regi- stered as an admission order giving operation in the re¬ corder 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 of the stamp unit 10, the holder 8 or the cup- shaped portion 28 is provided with a sensor coil 38 com¬ municating with a metal ring member 40 positioned around the lower end of the stamp unit 10 so as to enable the re¬ charging 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 sould be positioned in connection with the holder 8. Other suitable sensor means may be used for sensing the rechar- ging operation of the stamp unit 10 as being not an admis¬ sion 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 control¬ ler using the stamp unit 10 has an errand and therefore wants to block up the counting of the admission order gi¬ ving as he alone carries the responsibility for the con¬ tents of the entrance cash box corresponding to the figu¬ res of the counter. In order to prevent any possibility of irregulariti- es of the recorder unit said unit comprises an internal energy source in the form of a rechargeable electric bat¬ tery which is automatically switched on in case the ex¬ ternal electric power supply should be interrupted. Also the wire connection between the stamp unit 10 and the re- corder 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 recor¬ der unit inside the housing 2 is interrupted, e.g. by removal of the stamp unit by force, the blocking up cir- cuit will immediately be activated to 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 controller then 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 for the actual contents of the counter via the display 4. Preferably, the main unit of the housing 2 is con¬ nected 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 position¬ ed in any suitable place in the establishment, e.g. in the office, * the bar or the buffet.

Claims: C l a i m s : 1. A method of supervising the control of the admis¬ sion right of persons to dancing halls and similar estab¬ lishments with controlled admission and by which the per¬ sons are given a verifyable admission order by means of a handheld admission order giving device, c h a r a c ¬ t e r i z e d in that the order giving device is caused to generate an actuator signal to a recorder unit by each order giving operation thereof. 2. A system for performing the method according to claim 1 and comprising an admission giving device in the form of a handheld marking device {10), c h a r a c t e r ¬ i z e d in that the marking device comprises a signal generator (36) operable by each order giving operation thereof to generate an actuator signal, which is regis- tered by a recorder or counter unit belonging to the system. 3. A system according to claim 2, in which the ad¬ mission order.giving device is a stamp unit (10) , which at least from time to time requires to be supplied with a marking agent as supplied from an associated marking agent source (30) by a recharging operation of the stamp unit (10) similar to said order giving operation thereof, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the sensor means (38, 40) are provided for sensing the operation of the stamp unit (10) as being said recharging operation, and that said sensor means .(38, 40) are operatively connected with said signal generator (36) or said recorder unit so as to be effected without being recorded as an order giving opera¬ tion.. 4. A system according to claim 3, in which the mark- ing agent source is a marker pad (30), c h a r a c t e r ¬ i z e d in that said sensor means (38, 40) are provided in association with the marker pad (30) . 5. A system according to claim 2, 3, or 4, in which the admission order giving device is a stamp unit (10), c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the signal generator is a sensor (36) having an actuator (34) located immediately adjacent the active stamp surface (32) .

Inventors: JENSEN KARL PETER, JENSEN, KARL, PETER
Applicants: JENSEN KARL P, JENSEN, KARL, PETER
Application year: 1983
Main classification: G07C9
IPC codes: G07C9