EP1351199B1 - Method and system for handling banknotes - Google Patents

Abstract

Method whereby: banknotes (1) are placed in a stack (10) according to a first serial number sequence; banknotes are taken from the stack and processed according to the first serial number sequence, while a second serial number sequence is determined from the processed notes. If an interruption occurs in note processing after a partial quantity have been processed, the partial quantity are stored, processing is continued with the remaining notes according to the first serial number and processing of the second serial number is continued based on assumption of hypothetical number of notes in the partial quantity. An Independent claim is included for a corresponding system.

Description

The invention relates to a method for processing banknotes, in which banknotes are provided in a stack, the banknotes each having a serial number and corresponding to a first series of their serial numbers in the stack, the banknotes are individually withdrawn from the stack and according to the first sequence their serial numbers are processed sequentially and in which a second series of serial numbers of processed banknotes is determined.

Moreover, the invention relates to a corresponding system for processing banknotes.

Such methods or systems are used in particular for the automated testing of freshly printed banknotes for quality assurance purposes. In this case, individual properties and features of the banknotes, such as the printed image and / or other security or authenticity features, are detected by means of corresponding sensors and evaluated and checked in a control device. Banknotes that meet the quality requirements can then be put into circulation via a central bank. The remaining banknotes that do not meet the quality requirements are generally destroyed immediately, for example, by being redirected to a shredder.

Usually, the banknotes to be checked are provided in a stack, with the serial numbers of the individual banknotes in the stack in monotonically decreasing or ascending order. The bills are then individually withdrawn from the stack and processed sequentially according to their ascending or descending order of their serial numbers. By entering the serial number of the first banknote of the Stacks in the control device of the banknote processing system can be calculated based on the known order of banknotes in the stack, the serial number of each currently processed banknote. The calculation of the current serial number is particularly necessary if a sensory recognition of the printed on the banknote to be processed serial number is difficult or time-consuming, for example, due to the font and / or font size of the serial numbers.

When calculating the serial number of each currently processed banknote, however, a problem occurs when two or more banknotes are deducted from the stack due to a fault, too small a distance, in particular a flaking, between two or more consecutively withdrawn banknotes present or a Jam of multiple banknotes occurs. In these cases, a reliable calculation of the serial numbers of subsequently properly processed banknotes is possible only if the exact number of banknotes involved in the disorder is determined and this is entered into the control device.

For these reasons, the following steps are carried out in the known methods or systems for processing banknotes in the event of a fault: The banknotes involved in the fault are stored in a special storage of the banknote processing system and the processing of subsequent banknotes in the stack is stopped. The banknotes deposited in the special deposit are taken out of the special storage by the operator and counted. This number is input to the controller of the processing system. Only then can the separation and processing of subsequent banknotes in the stack be continued. By knowing the number of banknotes involved in the disruption, the controller can correctly calculate the serial numbers of the respective successively processed subsequent banknotes of the stack.

However, these methods or systems have the disadvantage that, if a fault occurs, banknote processing is stopped until the manually determined number of banknotes deposited in the special bin is entered into the control device. However, this significantly reduces the average throughput of banknotes to be checked per unit of time.

It is an object of the invention to specify a method and a system for processing banknotes with the lowest possible throughput losses while at the same time being easier to implement and easier to handle

This object is achieved by the method according to claim 1 or by the system according to claim 16.

The method according to the invention for processing banknotes according to claim 1, in the event of a failure in the processing of a subset of banknotes, comprises the steps of: depositing the subset of banknotes, e.g. in a special store; Continuing to process subsequent bills in the stack according to the first sequence of their serial numbers; Continuing to determine the second series of serial numbers for the properly processed subsequent banknotes using a hypothetical number of banknotes in the subset.

The corresponding system according to the invention for processing banknotes according to claim 16 has in particular the following features: A Control means for controlling the processing machine in the event of a malfunction in the processing of a subset of banknotes in such a way that the processing of subsequent banknotes in the stack is continued in accordance with the first sequence of their serial numbers, and for determining a second series of the serial numbers of processed banknotes, the Determination of the second series of serial numbers after the disturbance for the processed subsequent banknotes using a hypothetical number of banknotes in the subset takes place.

The invention is based on the idea of not stopping but continuing the processing of the banknotes in the event of a fault, while at the same time calculating the second series of serial numbers of properly processed subsequent banknotes assuming a hypothetical number for the banknotes involved in the failure, i. So without accurate knowledge of their actual number / is continued. The determination of the second series of serial numbers may here be based on an estimate of the hypothetical number of banknotes involved in the malfunction, for example on the basis of measured data, on a calculation also based on measured data or else on a specification of a predetermined number. The predetermined number is preferably based on empirical values for the number of bank notes typically involved in faults. If e.g. If, in most cases, only two banknotes are involved in multiple copies or other errors, the hypothetical predetermined number is set to the fixed value two.

It is preferably provided that the thus determined second series of serial numbers is checked during and / or after the continued processing of subsequent banknotes in the stack. The verification of the second sequence takes place here based on the actual number of banknotes in the Subset, which was stored in a special storage. If the check reveals that the determined second series of serial numbers is not consistent with the actual number of banknotes involved in the malfunction, then the ascertained second sequence can be corrected accordingly by an operator. This correction also takes place during and / or after the continued processing of subsequent banknotes in the stack.

In contrast to the prior art, in the method and / or system according to the invention banknote processing is not stopped after the occurrence of a fault for the manual determination of the actual number of banknotes involved in the disruption, but continues after depositing the banknotes involved in the disruption with a hypothetical number. The comparison of the hypothetical number with the actual number can then take place during and / or only after completion of the continued processing of all subsequent banknotes of the stack on the basis of the banknotes deposited in the special bin, without the need to interrupt banknote processing for this purpose.

Compared with the method or system usually used, the advantage is achieved hereby that, with simple operation, a high throughput of the bank notes to be processed is ensured.

For the purposes of the invention, the terms "hypothetical number" and "actual number" mean not only a mere number of banknotes, but also a quantity of banknotes with a hypothetical or actual sequence of serial numbers. The determination of the second sequence can thus also take place using a hypothetical sequence of the serial numbers of banknotes in the subset. Corresponding For example, the checking and / or correction of the second sequence can be carried out on the basis of the actual sequence of the serial numbers of banknotes in the subset.

Fig. 1

ein erfindungsgemäßes System zur Bearbeitung von Banknoten;

Fig. 2

eine Darstellung einer ersten und zweiten Folge von Seriennummern der im erfindungsgemäßen Verfahren bearbeiteten Banknoten; und

Fig. 3

eine Darstellung der zweiten Folge von Seriennurnmern gemäß Fig. 2 vor und nach Korrektur.

The invention will be explained in more detail with reference to figures. Show it:

Fig. 1

an inventive system for processing banknotes;

Fig. 2

a representation of a first and second series of serial numbers of the banknotes processed in the method according to the invention; and

Fig. 3

a representation of the second series of Seriennurnmern of FIG. 2 before and after correction.

Fig. 1 shows an inventive system for processing banknotes. The banknotes 1 to be processed are entered in the form of a stack 10 in a separating device 20, which is shown here only in a highly schematized manner, in which they are withdrawn individually from the stack 10 and fed to the processing device 21. There, the individual banknotes 1 are checked by means of appropriate sensors 25 for certain properties. Depending on the application and the requirements of the respective test, the sensors 25 are optical sensors, such as image sensors, or else mechanical, acoustic or magnetic sensors. The measurement data or signals generated by the sensors 25 are fed to a control device 23. Depending on the result of the examination of the individual banknotes 1, these are deposited in individual trays 30 or 31 or, if appropriate, fed to a destruction device 32, for example a shredder.

The banknotes 1 are preferably provided in larger units with quantities of up to one million banknotes, and then entered into the singulator 20 in sub-stacks of up to about 1000 banknotes. For the purposes of the invention, the term "stack" is therefore also to be understood as meaning a larger unit of banknotes. This applies in particular even if, in such a unit, the banknotes are stacked only in the sub-stacks.

In addition, a checking device 40 is provided, which is arranged outside the processing device 21 and can be operated independently of the respective operating state of the processing device 21. The checking device 40 serves to check data which is generated in particular in the control device 23. The corresponding data are transmitted in the example shown by means of one or more data lines 24. In principle, it is also possible to transmit the data via a wireless connection or via data carriers, such as floppy disks or chip cards.

In the illustrated example, the checking device 40 is arranged spatially separated from the processing device 21 and the control device 23. In principle, however, it is also possible to integrate the checking device 40 in the processing device 21 or control device 23. This has the advantage, inter alia, that a monitoring of the bank note processing and a check of the data generated thereby, in particular of calculated serial number sequences, can take place from one workstation.

The functioning of the system for processing banknotes in the event of a malfunction in the processing of a subset of banknotes will be explained in more detail below.

The serial numbers of the individual banknotes 1 to be processed in the stack 10 provided in the singulator 20 are present in a known first sequence F1. An example of a first sequence F1 of serial numbers is shown in the column labeled F1 of the table shown in FIG. In this example, the banknotes with monotonously increasing serial numbers are present in the stack 10 and are subtracted individually from the stack 10 and fed to the processing device 21 in accordance with this first sequence F1. For a given first serial number, which in the illustrated example has the end number 01, then the controller 23 can calculate the serial numbers of the individually individually withdrawn and currently processed banknotes 1 in a simple manner. Each serial number is generally assigned a data record in which information about the course and / or the result of the processing, in particular the quality inspection, are included.

However, the computational determination of this second sequence F2 of the serial numbers described is no longer possible in the case of disturbances, such as double or multiple prints, to small distances between the individually withdrawn banknotes or banknote jam, since this is the exact number of banknotes 1 involved in the disorder known would have to in order to determine the correct serial numbers of subsequent banknotes, in which the processing takes place again trouble-free.

As explained in more detail above, therefore, in prior art methods or systems, banknote processing becomes more sequential Banknöten stopped and then determines the number of involved in the disturbance and deposited in a special tray 30 notes by an operator by counting. Only when this number has been input to the controller 23 is the banknote processing of subsequent banknotes continued.

In contrast, the method or system according to the invention provides that the subset T of the banknotes 1 involved in the malfunction is stored in the special bin 30 and at the same time the processing of subsequent banknotes is continued without interruption, preferably until all subsequent banknotes of the stack 10 are processed. As has already been explained in more detail above, the stack 10 can also be a larger unit of banknotes comprising several sub-stacks. In addition, the calculation of the second sequence F2 of the serial numbers of individual banknotes following the fault and properly processed bank notes is continued at the same time assuming a hypothetical number of banknotes involved in the fault.

This calculation may e.g. in the simplest case, this is done by adding a predetermined number to the serial number of the banknote that was last processed correctly. In the example shown in FIG. 2, when determining the serial numbers of the subsequent banknotes, it is assumed that only two banknotes, which in this example have the end numbers 07 and 08, were involved in the disruption. These serial numbers are listed in the table column overwritten with F1-F2.

The following further step is shown in FIG. During or after the continued processing of subsequent banknotes, the data becomes the calculated second sequence F2 transmitted to the checking device 40 and shown there for example on a display 41. The type of representation on the display 41 may hereby be similar to the representation selected in the table of FIG. 3. The subset T is preferably also removed for checking from the special tray 30 of the processing device 21 and brought to the checking device 40. The serial numbers of these notes are shown in Fig. 3 in the area headed T, which is not part of the table.

The operator can now carry out a check of the calculated sequence F2 of the serial numbers by using the subset T of the banknotes 1 involved in the fault and checking their number and / or serial numbers for consistency with the calculated sequence F2. At the verifier, the operator may compare the subset T of the notes involved in the malfunction, in particular, with the serial numbers of those notes believed to be involved in the malfunction. These serial numbers are shown in the table column overwritten with F1-F2.

In the example shown in FIG. 3, the subset T of banknotes participating in the disruption comprises three banknotes whose serial numbers have the final digits 07, 08 and 09. In this case, obviously, a correction of the calculated second sequence F2 is required because the first consecutive and properly processed banknote initially calculated serial number with the final digits 09 is not consistent with the content T of the special storage 30. The serial number with the end digits 09 must thus be removed from the calculated second sequence F2. This is done by means of an input device 42, which is executed in the illustrated example as a computer mouse. Preferably, the correction mode is the Checking device 40 equipped with a so-called drag-and-drop function, in which the serial number to be corrected can be selected in the table shown on the display 41 and removed from the second sequence F2. Instead of a computer mouse can be used to correct the sequence F2 and a touch-operable touch screen or keyboard as an input device 42.

A corresponding correction process is shown in the columns of the table shown in FIG. 3, which are overwritten with F2, F1-F2 and F2k. The serial number with the final digits 09 to be taken from the second sequence F2 is shifted into the table column F1-F2 so that finally a checked and corrected second sequence F2k is now obtained, which now contains the actual sequence of serial numbers of properly processed banknotes.

In the examples described above, the invention was explained in more detail with reference to only one fault occurring during processing. It goes without saying that the invention can be used advantageously even when two or more disturbances occur. When checking and, if necessary, correcting the calculated sequence F2, the banknotes deposited in the special storage are decomposed into individual subsets T and the actual number of banknotes involved in the respective disorder is compared with the calculated sequence F2 in the area of the faults.

Claims (25)

1. A method for processing bank notes in a bank note processing system wherein

   - bank notes (1) are provided in a stack (10), the bank notes (1) each having a serial number and being present in the stack (10) in accordance with a first sequence (F1) of their serial numbers,

   - the bank notes (1) are removed singly from the stack (10) and processed successively in accordance with the first sequence (F1) of their serial numbers, and

   - a second sequence (F2) of the serial numbers of processed bank notes (1) is determined,

   and wherein the following steps are performed in the case of a disturbance during processing of a subset (T) of bank notes (1):

   - depositing the subset (T) of bank notes (1),

   - continuing the processing of following bank notes (1) in the stack (10) in accordance with the first sequence (F1) of their serial numbers,

   - continuing the determination of the second sequence (F2) of the serial numbers for the processed following bank notes (1) using a hypothetical number of bank notes (1) in the subset (T).
2. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that a check of the determined second sequence (F2) of serial numbers is performed with reference to the actual number of bank notes (1) in the subset (T).
3. A method according to claim 2, characterized in that the check of the second sequence (F2) is performed during and/or after the continued processing of following bank notes (1) of the stack (10).
4. A method according to either of claims 2 to 3, characterized in that a correction of the second sequence (F2) is performed.
5. A method according to claim 4, characterized in that the correction of the second sequence (F2) is performed during and/or after the continued processing of following bank notes (1) of the stack (10).
6. A method according to claim 5, characterized in that the correction of the second sequence (F2) is performed only after the end of processing of all bank notes (1) of the stack (10).
7. A method according to any of claims 2 to 6, characterized in that the processing of the bank notes (1) is performed in a processing device (21), and the check and/or correction of the second sequence (F2) in a check device (40) spatially separate from the processing device (21) or integrated in the processing device (21).
8. A method according to claim 7, characterized in that data on the first and/or second sequence (F1 or F2) of serial numbers is transferred from the processing device (21) to the check device (40).
9. A method according to either of claims 7 to 8, characterized in that the subset (T) of deposited bank notes (1) and/or information on the subset (T) of deposited bank notes (1) is transferred to the check device (40).
10. A method according to any of the above claims, characterized in that a disturbance during processing of a subset (T) of bank notes (1) is present when the bank notes (1) of the subset (T) have not been removed singly from the stack (10) and/or when the bank notes (1) of the subset (T) cannot be processed successively in defined fashion, in particular due to too little distance between the single bank notes (1) or due to a jam.
11. A method according to any of the above claims, characterized in that the second sequence (F2) of serial numbers is calculated using the serial number of the first bank note (1) of the stack (10) and the, in particular regularly descending or ascending, order of the serial numbers of bank notes in the stack (10).
12. A method according to any of the above claims, characterized in that the hypothetical number of bank notes (1) in the subset (T) is derived on the basis of measuring data.
13. A method according to any of the above claims, characterized in that the hypothetical number of bank notes (1) in the subset (T) is given by specification of a predetermined number.
14. A method according to any of the above claims, characterized in that the printed image and/or quality and/or security or authenticity features of the bank notes (1) are checked during processing of the bank notes (1).
15. A method according to claim 14, characterized in that the bank notes are sorted in dependence on the result of the check, in particular outputted to different bins (30, 31) or supplied to a destruction device (32).
16. A system for processing bank notes having

    - a singling device (20) for receiving a stack (10) of bank notes (1) and removing single bank notes (1) from the stack (10), the bank notes (1) each having a serial number and being present in the stack (10) in accordance with a first sequence (F1) of their serial numbers,

    - a processing device (21) for processing the bank notes (1) removed singly from the stack (10) in accordance with the first sequence (F1) of their serial numbers,

    - a special bin (30) for receiving a subset (T) of bank notes (1) on which a disturbance of processing has occurred, and

    - a control device (23) for

    - controlling the processing machine in the case of a disturbance during processing of a subset (T) of bank notes in such a way that the processing of following bank notes in the stack (10) is continued in accordance with the first sequence (F1) of their serial numbers, and

    - determining a second sequence (F2) of serial numbers of processed bank notes (1), the determination of the second sequence (F2) of serial numbers after the disturbance for the processed following bank notes (1) being effected using a hypothetical number of bank notes (1) in the subset (T).
17. A system according to claim 16, characterized in that a check device (40) is provided for checking the second sequence (F2) with reference to the actual number of bank notes (1) in the subset (T).
18. A system according to claim 17, characterized in that the check device (40) is formed for correcting the second sequence (F2).
19. A system according to either of claims 17 to 18, characterized in that the check device (40) is spatially separate from the processing device (21) and/or control device (23), or integrated in the processing device (21) and/or control device (23).
20. A system according to any of claims 16 to 19, characterized in. that the processing device (21) has means (25, 23) for checking the printed image and/or quality and/or security or authenticity features of the bank notes.
21. A system according to claim 20, characterized in that the processing device (21) has different bins (30, 31) and/or a destruction device (32) to which bank notes (1) can be outputted in dependence on the result of the check.
22. A system according to any of claims 16 to 21, characterized in that the processing device (21) has a special bin (30) in which the subset (T) of bank notes (1) can be deposited.
23. A system according to any of claims 16 to 22, characterized in that the processing device (21) has means (25) for detecting a disturbance, in particular a multiple removal or jam, during processing of bank notes (1).
24. A system according to claim 22, characterized in that the means (25) for detecting a disturbance can produce measuring data on the basis of which the hypothetical number of bank notes in the subset (T) can be derived.
25. A system according to any of claims 17 to 24, characterized in that an input device (42), in particular keyboard, touch screen or computer mouse, is provided to permit correction of the second sequence (F2) to be performed by a user.

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