Card Key Coding for Direct Accommodation Room Charging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems do not enable payment of a price for a product or fee for a service to be charged directly to a room in an accommodation facility using a card key.
Innovation Solution
A charging-to-room system that issues a card key with a two-dimensional code containing accommodation facility and reservation information, allowing payment processing through scanning at a shop terminal, including input requests for amount and room number verification.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a card key system is used for room access in accommodation facilities, then security and convenience for guests are improved, but the ability to charge payments for products and services directly to the room is not available
Solution Approach 1:
The card key is transformed into a multi-functional device that serves both as a room access key and as a payment identification medium. By encoding room identification information, reservation information, and guest information into the card key, the system enables the card to be used universally for both access control and payment charging purposes, resolving the contradiction between maintaining simple card key functionality and adding charging capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the room access card key function with the payment identification function into a single integrated system. The card key information is combined with guest profile data and room charges through database lookups, creating a unified approach where one card handles both security access and financial transactions, thereby improving ease of operation while enabling charging functionality.
2Adaptability or versatility
If payment information is stored and processed through the card key system, then direct charging to room becomes possible, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary charging management system that acts as a mediator between the card key scanner and the payment processing infrastructure. This intermediary system handles the complexity of data integration, database queries, and payment coordination, while presenting a simple interface to both the shop terminal and the card key. The intermediary approach enables charging functionality without directly increasing the complexity of the card key itself or the point-of-sale hardware.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback loops where the charging management system continuously communicates with both the accommodation reservation management system and the payment processing system. Reservation information, room information, and charge status are exchanged through structured feedback mechanisms, allowing the system to dynamically adjust and coordinate between multiple subsystems without requiring permanent complex interconnections, thereby managing system complexity through controlled information flow.
Data Source
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AI summary
A charging-to-room system (1) includes: a card key issuance unit (5) that issues a card key to a room of an accommodation facility where a user stays, based on accommodation plan information on the user acquired from an accommodation reservation management system (2); a two-dimensional code assignment unit (6) that assigns the card key a two-dimensional code in which identification information on the accommodation facility and an accommodation reservation number included in the accommodation plan information are coded; and a charging-to-room processing unit (7) that performs a charging-to-room process for charging, through use of the two-dimensional code on the card key, payment of a price for a product purchased by the user, or payment of a fee for a service used by the user, to the room where the user stays.