Telephone used for electronic money card transaction and method of operation of the same

• US 6,339,638 B1
• Filed: 12/02/1999
• Issued: 01/15/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 12/08/1995
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Kitagawa, Hiroki, Ito, Shigeyuki, Oosawa, Takao, Furuya, Jun, Urushibara, Atsuhiko, Ohki, Masayuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Sinh
• Assistant Examiner(s): Eng, George
• Application Number:
  US09/453,032
• Time in Patent Office: 775 Days
• Field of Search: 379/90.01, 379/91.01, 379/93-1-, 379/93.12, 379/93.17, 379/93.23, 379/100.04, 379/110.01, 379/144, 379/357, 705/39-44, 235/379-380
• US Class Current: 379/91.01
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/06 Private payment circuits, e.g. involving electronic currency used among participants of a common payment scheme
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/305 using wired telephone networks

Abstract

A telephone for transferring electronic money between money cards has on the top thereof two card inlets of two internal card reader/writers, a display window, a ten-key set used to dial a telephone number or enter an amount of electronic money transaction, telephone function keys, and mode selection keys. It can be operated to transfer electronic money between two money cards inserted in the card inlets, or between a money card inserted in one of the card inlets and another money card linked through the telephone line, thereby enabling person-to-person, person-to-bank, and person-to-retailer transactions based on electronic money.

Claims

1. A telephone used for an electronic money transaction system for transferring electronic money between money cards which can store electronic money, said telephone comprises;

a main body including electronic money control unit, a modem unit and a talk unit,

a handset connected with said main body through a cable,

a display part, operation keys and two inlets of the electronic money cards which are equipped on a case of the main body, and

said display part has a first display screen by use of which transfer direction of electronic money between two electronic money cards inserted in said two card inlets is determined and a second display screen by use of which transfer direction of electronic money between one of the electronic money cards inserted in said one of said two card inlets and an electronic money card connected through a communication network is determined;

said operation keys having a transfer key to display said first display screen, a scroll key to display said second display screen, a purse key to determine said transfer direction of electronic money between two electronic money cards displayed on said first and second display screen and a ten-key to input amount of the electronic money, and

said electronic money control part has means for starting transfer of an electronic money in accordance with a transfer direction displayed on said first display screen when said purse key is pushed in a state that said first display screen is displayed, for displaying that the telephone used for the electronic money transaction system is under slave state and that the telephone is waiting a response from a communication partner when said purse key is pushed before input of the amount of the electronic money, for settling the telephone as master and keeping leadership for transfer proceeding received thereafter when said purse key is pushed after input of amount of the electronic money, in a state that said second display screen is displayed, selecting one of the cards inserted in said inlets of said plurality of electronic money card read/writers for transmitting side or for receiving side.

2. A method of operation of a telephone which is used for an electronic money transaction system for transferring electronic money between money cards which can store electronic money, the telephone includes a main body including electronic money control unit having two electronic money card read/writers and an electronic money control part, a modem unit, a talk unit, and a display part, operation keys including a ten-key to input amount of electronic money and two inlets of the electronic money cards which are equipped on a case of the main body;

said method comprises;

a first step for displaying a first display screen by use of which transfer direction of electronic money between two electronic money cards inserted in said two card inlets on said display part, for receiving change of the transfer direction of electric money, and for starting transfer of electronic money in accordance with the transfer direction of electronic money settled on said first display screen,

a second step for displaying a second display screen by which transfer direction of electronic money between one of electronic money cards inserted in said one of said two card inlets and an electronic money card connected through communication network, and for receiving change of the transfer direction of electric money,

a third step for displaying the state that the telephone is under slave state on the second display screen, and for waiting response from a communication partner when instruction of money transfer is received before input of amount of the electronic money by said ten-key, and

a fourth step for change the state the telephone used for the electronic transaction system to master state so as to maintain priority of transfer processing of after reception of operation thereafter when transfer instruction is performed after input of amount of electronic money by said ten-key.

3. A method of operation of a telephone according to claim 2,

which comprises, when the telephone is under master state,

a step for starting transfer processing with said communication partner, displaying information of the communication partner on said display screen, and starting transfer of electronic money by another transfer instruction thereof when the telephone is a pay side telephone;

a step of transmitting information of the payment to the communication partner and waiting the payment of the communication partner when the telephone is a pay side telephone; and

when the telephone is under slave state,

a step of displaying the information of payment transmitted from the said communication partner on the display screen and starting transfer of the electronic money by transfer instruction when the telephone is a pay side telephone, and

a step of receiving the payment the electronic money from the communication partner when the telephone is a receive side telephone.