The invention relates, moreover, to an apparatus that carries out such method.

Description of the prior art Traditional machines for the validation of tickets, also said obliterators, for example used on city buses or in railway stations, normally execute on the tickets only a print of a few data, such as time and date, that indicate the beginning of the journey.

These machines, however, do not carry out any actual control on the validity of the processed ticket or on the correspondence of the ticket to the actual fare on the vehicle used.

With the current paper tickets, moreover, it is expensive to control the authenticity of a ticket and to discover a misuse thereof or counterfeits. The control on the ticket is conducted, in fact, only by inspectors who check randomly the authenticity and the validity of tickets according to the travel duration and the mileage with respect to several travellers or journeys.

Such a procedure, that provides the separation of the steps of validation and of inspection, is expensive for the companies that provide the service and is often not sufficient.

Moreover, the obliterators used currently do not allow the collection of statistical data. In particular,

it is difficult the apportionment of the profits in all cases wherein it is possible to use a same ticket for different journeys administered by different companies.

Further to the case of tickets made of paper, travel documents i. e. card tickets exist having a magnetic strip or a chip, that make possible the use of the information for statistical purposes. However, such types of travel documents have the drawbacks of being expensive, of requiring expensive issuing and validating apparatus, as well as of encountering other problems such as the demagnetisation or the possibility of fake magnetisation.

Summary of the invention It is an object of the present invention to provide a new method for the validation of travel documents, such as for example, but not exclusively, paper tickets for public transport vehicles, that is effective and not too much expensive to carry out and allows the execution of successive automatic controls of the validity of the tickets as well as the check of their authenticity and the prevention from fakes.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of validation of tickets which enables the collection of statistical data such as for example, but not exclusively, the amount of the validated tickets, the most crowded periods of the day on each vehicle, the most crowded combinations of journeys as well as which allows the apportionment of the profits when the same ticket is used for several journeys administered by different companies.

It is also object of the invention to provide an apparatus that carries out such a method.

These and other objects are achieved firstly by the method according to the present invention of validation of tickets, whose characteristic is to comprise the steps of:

-during a first validation action of the unused ticket, put in a first apparatus, printing in a first zone of the ticket of a first set of coded data which can be read by optical means; -during such first validation action, printing in a second zone of the ticket a second set of data written in eye readable characters; -during a successive validation attempt of the ticket put in another apparatus, by means of optical means connected to a processing unit, reading said coded data and comparison with data stored in said processing unit; -production of a warning signal by said processing unit if, when reading the coded data from said first zone, at the comparison with the stored data the successive validation is unallowable.

In a first embodiment of the method the coded data are printed in a binary two-dimensional optically readable array and said step of reading comprises a step of optical scanning said array.

In a second embodiment of the method the coded data are optically readable alphanumeric characters and said step of reading comprises an optical reading step of said characters. In this case, the eye readable alphanumeric characters can be included in the coded alphanumeric characters.

The validating apparatus, which can be used to carry out the above described method, according to the invention comprises advantageously a box-like body having a slot for the introduction of a ticket, at least an internal printing head, at least an optical reader and at least a processing unit connected to the optical reader. The optical reader is arranged in coincidence with respective zones of coded data printed on the ticket by the head.

Substantially, the data printed during the first

validation can be read later on by optical means after computing the coded printed data, that the validating apparatus can decipher, on each ticket.

In the same way, always during the first validation, in a third zone, coded data can be printed on the ticket such as for example, but not exclusively, the information relative to the validating apparatus that is carrying out the printing.

Moreover, on the unused ticket, in a fourth and/or fifth zone, coded data can be pre-printed such as for example, but not exclusively, the maximum mileage or the time validity of the ticket, the applied fare, the type of journey such as city or district journey, or the information necessary for the identification of the machine that has issued the original ticket.

At each new validation attempt all the information can be read by the involved validating apparatus. This way, the same machine can record such data, or, alternatively, can refuse the validation of the ticket and can call the attention of an inspector or of the driver whenever the ticket were found to be irregular. If the ticket, instead, is valid, the validating apparatus accepts it and can print on it, at a predetermined location, further data such as for example, but not exclusively, the validation date and time.

To said or a further successive validation attempt can follow, otherwise, a simple punching or printing step for finally obliterating the ticket, as well as a simple refusal of the ticket.

Brief description of the drawings Further characteristics and advantages of the optical reading validation method according to the present invention will be made clearer with the following description of an embodiment thereof, exemplifying but not

limitative, with reference to the attached drawings, wherein -figure 1 shows a perspective view of an unused ticket before being validated according to the present invention; -figure 2 shows a diagrammatical perspective view of a validating apparatus according to the present invention, just after the first validation or before a second validation of the ticket of figure 1; -figure 3 shows the validated ticket of figure 2 with a zoomed view of a first zone wherein coded data have been printed that are readable by optical means; -figure 4 shows a view of the ticket of figure 1 on which, according to a different embodiment of the invention, after the first validation other coded data and/or eye readable data have been printed on a third zone; -figure 5 shows a diagrammatical perspective view of a different embodiment of the validating apparatus of figure 2, just after the first validation or before a second validation of the ticket of figure 4; -figure 6 shows a diagrammatical perspective view of a different embodiment of the validating apparatus of figure 5, before the validation of an unused ticket that has got, in a fourth and a fifth zone, pre-printed coded data; -figure 7 shows a flow-sheet of program means residing in a local processing unit of an optical CCD reader mounted on the apparatus of figures 2,5 and 6.

Description of the preferred embodiments With reference to figure 1, a ticket 1, which can be used for example on people transport vehicles, has a side 2 on which data can be printed necessary for carrying out the optical reading validation method according to the present invention.

Ticket 1 can be made fully of paper or can have, on its side 2, plastics film covered zones (non shown) or in other printable material in order to fix and maintain, for all the validity life of the ticket, the data written on it by the validating apparatus.

With reference also to figure 2, an arrow indicator 8, pre-printed on side 2, shows the direction of introduction of ticket 1 into slot 9 of a validating apparatus 10.

According to the invention as shown in figure 2, unused ticket 1 after the first validation by means of apparatus 10 during which it has been introduced through slot 9, has side 2 with a first and a second zone, 5 and 7, on which data have been printed by a printing head 13 indicating the instant of validation.

More precisely, in the second zone 7 the date and the time of the first validation are printed in alphanumeric characters, whereas in the first zone 5 the same data of zone 7 are printed as coded data, for example a binary two-dimensional optically readable array (fig. 3) readable for example by means of known neural techniques.

Printing head 13 can be of the type described in EP766858, comprising an encoder (non shown) that synchronises the printing speed of fixed head 13 and the speed of introduction of the ticket through slot 9. This way the same head 13 can print the data on the moving ticket also in a second zone, for example zone 6 of figures 4 and 5.

Otherwise, it is possible to use a known reciprocating printing head of known type, with punch (not shown) for blocking ticket 1 throughout printing.

In both cases, the validation action is a printing step of data on an unused ticket, with whichever known method.

During a successive validation action by means of a different validating apparatus, but having the same structure of apparatus 10 of figure 2, ticket 1 is introduced, always according to arrow 8, into slot 9. Then apparatus 10 reads and decodes the data written on zone 5, by means of an optical reader 12, for example a CCD connected to a processing unit and computing means using neural techniques.

This way validating apparatus 10 carries out a comparison between real date and time with date and time printed at the first validation, according to the kind of ticket, and checks its validity. In the negative, it refuses the validation and can call the attention of an inspector or can emit a warning signal, acoustic and/or visible on a display.

With reference to figure 4, in a different embodiment of the method according to the invention, after the first validation action ticket 1 can have, on side 2, a third zone 6 that contains other data written in a binary two-dimensional code as already described above, that are printed always by printing head 13 of validating apparatus 10. These other data may indicate, for example, the apparatus that has executed the first validation. They can be read during each validation successive to the first, by means of a second reader 14 of apparatus 10 and can be useful for statistical purposes and for a control of the service performed by the company, as well as for the apportionment of the profits among different public transport companies linked by transport agreements to one another. Reader 12 and reader 14 operate through the same processing unit above described and read respectively the data written on zones 5 and 6, and then compute and store all the information read thereon.

A further different embodiment of the invention

provides that ticket 1 has, always on side 2, other zones further to those already described, for example a fourth and a fifth zone 3 and 4, that contain coded data, preferably always of the same binary two dimensional array type, or of other kind which can be read by optical means, pre-printed on the unused ticket at the moment of the issue. For this reason, a third reader 11, provided in apparatus 10, reads and records the data printed in zones 3 and 4 during all the obliterations. These further data can be useful both for preventing counterfeiting, by means of the identification of the issuing machine or of the retailer, and for collecting information for statistical purposes and for inspection, as well as for the identification of the fare or for other advantageous objects necessary for the administration of the company.

All the actions of reading are carried out by a manual motion, and not synchronous, of the ticket, whereby each CCD reader, owing to the high reading and computing speed, comprises a local processing unit or is connected to a processing unit shared by other optical readers.

For reading the data each CCD reader, of a type available on the market and therefore not described in detail, implements the flow-sheet shown in figure 7.

Starting form the reset of the counter of the CCD, such counter is then incremented of a unit and the weight of the optical code array is read and measured in one of the above described zones.

In the absence of a significant weight/bit the CCD counter is incremented again of a unit. Otherwise the buffer of the address is reset, the weight is stored in the buffer, the counter of the CCD and the address buffer are incremented.

If the scanning step is ended the information that has been scanned is read by means of a neural array and is

checked as valid or not valid. In the negative the flow goes back to the reset of the CCD counter, otherwise the data is stored until a"white frame"is detected and the reading step of the data starts again with the reset of the CCD counter.

Concerning the optical reader, the following is an example, not limitative, of the requirements for a typical CCD reader having optimum reading speed of about 800 scannings per second and requiring: -a reading window of 8 mm -128 sensing elements -resolution 400 dots per inch -scanning speed 1.2 ms for each line A not limitative example concerning the coded data is the following: -the data are printed in frames (lines of dots) -each frame is formed by 11 weights (a weight is a unit of non white area); -2 weights, the first an the last, are used as reference for starting and ending the reading step -8 weights are used for determining the character, i. e.

4+4 weights for two numerical characters; -1 weight is used for the control of the parity of the frame.

Notwithstanding reference has been made to validating apparatus that provide the introduction of the ticket in a slot, this does not exclude that different validating apparatus can be used, for example of the type described in EP0766858, in the name of the same applicant, wherein the ticket is printed while in movement.

The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various

applications such specific embodiments without undue experimentation and without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. The means and materials for carrying out various disclosed functions may take a variety of alternative forms without departing from the invention. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.