JP2000113269A - Paper money discriminating device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a paper money discriminating device which specifies a paper money discrimination object, is miniaturized and also increases the processing speed of the entire device by utilizing an artificial retina sensor. SOLUTION: The watermark design 102a of a paper money 102 is carried so as to come to the position where it faces the lens 11 of an artificial retina sensor camera 1. The design 102a is irradiated from the rear face with light by a light source 111, an artificial retina chip 12 detects the edges of the design 102a through the transmitted light, and a knowledge processing circuit 13 processes the information on the shape, area and existence of the watermark to discriminate whether the paper money is authentic or not. On the other hand, data necessary to discrimination are stored in a denomination-sorted image data storing circuit 22. Whether the paper money 102 is authentic or not is discriminated by comparing the detected information with the data of the device 22 and discriminating whether or not they coincide. That is, a processing speed is improved because paper money discrimination is performed by using the artificial retina sensor camera 1.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a bill discriminating apparatus for discriminating the authenticity of a picked-up bill by image recognition, and more particularly to a bill discriminating apparatus for improving the discriminating speed by photographing a bill using an artificial retinal chip. Related to the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG.
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a conventional bill discriminating apparatus shown in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. H10-130, in which 100 is a hopper, 101 is an insertion slot adjacent to the hopper 100, 102 is a bill, and 103 is a transport device for moving the bill 102. It is. Reference numeral 104 denotes a belt of the transport device 103, reference numeral 105 denotes a driving gear for driving the belt 104, and reference numeral 106 denotes a plurality of rollers for holding the belt 104 at a predetermined position. 107 and 108 are optical sensors, 109 is a magnetic sensor, and 110 is an image reader. 111 and 112 are light sources. 11
3 is a read control device, 114 is a read control device 11
3 is a printing device to be joined. 115 is the driving gear 10
Reference numeral 116 denotes a motor driving circuit that supplies driving power to the motor 115.

Next, the operation will be described. The bills 102 to be discriminated are stored in the hopper 100 and transferred from the insertion slot 101 onto the belt 104 of the transport device 103, and the belt 104 is driven by a motor 115 by a driving gear 10.
5, the banknote 102 is moved by the belt 104. In the moving passage of the bill 102, the bill 10
The optical sensors 107 and 108 and the magnetic sensor 109 for performing the determination of 2 are arranged, and the image reader 110 is arranged.

[0004] The size and print pattern of the bill 102 are read by the optical sensors 107 and 108 disposed opposite the light sources 111 and 112, and the bill 102 is read.
Is a predetermined size or has a predetermined print pattern. The light sources 111 and 112 are diodes or light bulbs that generate visible light or infrared light, and the optical sensors 107 and 108 read the print pattern by the light emitted from the light sources 111 and 112 and transmitted through the bill 102.

[0005] The magnetic sensor 109 determines whether the pattern printed on the surface of the banknote 102 is printed with ink containing a predetermined magnetic material. The image reader 110 captures images of symbols such as numbers and alphabets printed on the banknotes 102, converts the images into video signals, and outputs the video signals to the reading control device 113.

In the reading control device 113, a bill discriminating means (not shown) for discriminating the authenticity of the bill 102 based on information from the optical sensors 107 and 108, the magnetic sensor 109, and the image reader 110 is incorporated. Have been. This bill discriminating means includes optical sensors 107, 10
8 such as the print pattern and the magnetic sensor 109
A bill discriminating means (not shown) for discriminating a bill type to be discriminated based on information such as a magnetic pattern from the image reader, and an image recognizing means for recognizing a bill type by recognizing a video signal from the image reader 110 as an image. (Not shown).

Here, the bill discriminating means is a means for discriminating the bill 1
In accordance with the type 02, the time when a symbol (not shown) to be imaged on the banknote 102 passes over the image reader 110 is determined, and when the symbol reaches immediately before the image reader 110, the motor drive circuit 116 is activated. By controlling the transport speed of the bill 102 by controlling, the image reader 110 can easily image the symbol. In addition, the image recognition means,
The type of the banknote 102 is recognized by performing image recognition on the above-described symbol captured by the image reader 110.

In other words, the bill discriminating means discriminates the bill from the genuine bill when the discrimination result of the bill discriminating means and the recognition result of the image recognizing means coincide with each other, and discriminates the bill from the counterfeit bill otherwise. The discrimination result by the bill discriminating means in the reading control processing device 113 is output to the printing device 114. Printing device 1
At 14, the denomination and bill number of the bill 102 discriminated based on the discrimination result are printed.

[0009]

The conventional bill validator is constructed as described above, and has the following problems. (1) In order to discriminate the bill 102, a plurality of optical sensors 107 and 108 for detecting a print pattern on the surface and a magnetic sensor 109 for determining that the print pattern is an ink containing a magnetic substance are arranged. For discrimination, a plurality of optical or magnetic sensors are required. In order to store the plurality of sensors for discrimination, there are disadvantages such as an increase in the volume of the device itself, resulting in inconvenience in carrying, and an increase in manufacturing cost.

(2) Since the bill discriminating means in the reading control device 113 derives a true / false discrimination result from signals from a plurality of sensors and an image signal from the image reader 110, a discrimination judgment algorithm becomes complicated, There were drawbacks such as the time required for discrimination.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems. The present invention has been made to reduce the size of a banknote by identifying an object to be discriminated, and to increase the processing speed of the entire apparatus using an artificial retinal sensor. It is an object of the present invention to provide a bill validator.

[0012]

A bill discriminating apparatus according to the present invention is an image processing circuit which faces a bill, captures a watermark pattern of the bill and outputs a video signal, and detects an edge of the video signal. An artificial retinal chip provided with an image conversion processing circuit that outputs an edge image of the watermark pattern, a knowledge processing circuit that analyzes the edge image and outputs image data, and verifies the bill by authenticating the image data And a discriminating circuit for discriminating.

[0013] A bill discriminating apparatus according to the next invention is provided with a light emitting section on the opposite side of the face of the bill facing the artificial retinal chip, and picks up an image of a watermark pattern by the artificial retinal chip using light from the light emitting section. Is what you do.

Further, a bill discriminating apparatus according to the next invention is provided with a light emitting portion on a side of the bill facing the artificial retinal chip, and picks up an image of a watermark pattern by the artificial retinal chip using light from the light emitting portion. is there.

Further, the bill discriminating apparatus according to the next invention is provided with a shielding means for blocking external intrusion light around the apparatus main body.

Further, the bill discriminating apparatus according to the next invention is provided with a shielding box which covers the periphery of the artificial retinal chip as a shielding means.

Further, the bill discriminating apparatus according to the next invention is provided with a shielding box which covers the periphery of the light emitting section as the shielding means.

Further, the bill discriminating apparatus according to the next invention is provided with an alarm device for causing the discriminating circuit to output the discrimination result of the bill, inputting the discrimination result, and outputting an alarm when the discrimination result is a counterfeit bill. Things.

Further, the bill discriminating apparatus according to the next invention is provided with a printing device for causing the discrimination circuit to output the discrimination result of the bill, inputting the discrimination result, and printing.

[0020]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiment 1 Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional side view of a bill validator according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an artificial retinal sensor camera;
Is a bill, 104 is a belt for moving the bill 102, and the belt 104 is driven horizontally by a driving gear (not shown). A roller 106 holds the belt 104 at a predetermined position. Reference numeral 11 denotes a lens of the artificial retinal sensor camera 1 which is disposed to face the bill 102.
Reference numeral 2 denotes an artificial retinal chip, reference numeral 13 denotes a knowledge processing circuit, and reference numeral 2 denotes a discrimination circuit that receives a detection signal from the knowledge processing circuit 13 and discriminates the authenticity of the bill 102. Reference numeral 14 denotes a housing of the artificial retinal sensor camera 1 that houses the lens 11, the artificial retinal chip 12, and the knowledge processing circuit 13. Reference numeral 111 denotes a light source, and 111a denotes a power supply circuit of the light source 111.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing details of the signal flow of the bill validator shown in FIG. In the figure,
Reference numeral 102a denotes a watermark pattern provided on the banknote 102 and to be imaged by the artificial retinal sensor camera 1 of the present invention. Reference numeral 21 denotes a comparison circuit, and reference numeral 22 denotes a denomination image data storage circuit that stores image characteristics of the watermark pattern 102a as data for each denomination of banknotes. The comparing circuit 21 and the image data storing circuit 22 by type constitute the determining circuit 2. Reference numeral 3 denotes a control circuit, and reference numeral 4 denotes a transport mechanism. Also,
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the details of the function of the retinal prosthesis chip 12 shown in FIG. 1, in which 12a is an imaging processing circuit, and 12b is an image conversion processing circuit.

Next, the operation of the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The bill 102 to be discriminated is transferred onto the belt 104 from an insertion slot (not shown). The belt 104 is driven by a driving gear 105. Further, by controlling the driving of the belt 104, the symbol 102 a such as a watermark pattern is conveyed so as to come to a position facing the lens 11 of the artificial retinal sensor camera 1. The light source 11
1 irradiates light to the back surface of the watermark pattern 102a. Light source 1
The light emitted from 11 may be either visible light or infrared light. For example, since the watermark pattern 102a is formed by changing the thickness of the paper, the transmittance of light from the light source 111 varies depending on the paper thickness of the watermark pattern 102a, and the image based on the difference in the intensity of the transmitted light corresponds to the watermark pattern 102a. It will be.

The image of the watermark pattern 102a is focused on the lens 11 of the artificial retinal sensor camera 1 and projected on the artificial retinal chip 12 formed of a semiconductor device. The retinal prosthesis chip 12 is a device in which a semiconductor element having photosensitivity is used as a basic device and these are planarly integrated. As shown in FIG. 3, the artificial retinal chip 12 includes an imaging processing circuit 12a that captures the banknote 102 as an image and an image conversion processing circuit 12b that binarizes the captured image to extract a contour (edge). Specifically, the artificial retina chip 12
For example, an image monitoring apparatus described in JP-A-6-139361, "Apparatus and method for image sensing and processing" is used. That is, the method of outputting an edge image by the artificial retinal chip 12 is described in JP-A-6-139361, and the description is omitted.

On the other hand, a normal CCD device such as the image reader 110 shown in FIG. 10 has only an imaging function and does not have an image conversion processing circuit. Therefore, the image conversion process requires a separate circuit, and the process takes time. The retinal prosthesis chip 12 has the advantage that the image conversion processing such as imaging and edge extraction is performed on the same chip, so that it can be executed in real time and the feature extraction speed of the image is increased.

The edge image output from the image conversion processing circuit 12b is transmitted to the knowledge processing circuit 13. The knowledge processing circuit 13 calculates the area, shape, edge area, and the like of the video based on the edge image, and outputs the calculation result to the determination circuit 2 as image data. Note that the denomination image data accumulation circuit 22 in the discrimination circuit 2 previously acquires data necessary for discriminating the authenticity of the bill 102, such as the area, shape, and edge area of the watermark pattern 102a formed on the bill 102. A circuit for storing these data for each denomination.

The comparison circuit 21 is a circuit for comparing the image data of the watermark pattern 102a of the bill 102 outputted from the knowledge processing circuit 13 with the accumulation data of the denomination-type image data accumulation circuit 22. That is, in the determination circuit 22, the comparison circuit 21 compares the image data of the watermark pattern 102a output from the artificial retinal chip 12 with the data of the watermark pattern 102a stored in advance, and determines whether or not they match. Then, the control unit 3 discriminates the authenticity of the bill 102 and outputs a discrimination result signal to the control circuit 3.

The control circuit 3 controls the driving of a transport mechanism 4 such as a belt 104 for transporting the bill 102 based on the discrimination result signal from the comparison circuit 21 of the discrimination circuit 2.

According to the above operation, in the bill discriminating apparatus shown in FIG. 1, the artificial retina sensor camera 1 captures the watermark pattern 102a of the bill 102 and outputs image data of the watermark pattern 102a to the discriminating circuit 2. The authenticity of the bill 102 is determined by comparing the input image data with the stored data in the denomination-specific image data storage circuit 22. That is, banknote 1
02 is distributed to the artificial retinal sensor circuit 1 and the discriminating circuit 2 and the image processing for extracting the image information by the edge detection and the pattern recognition is performed in one chip, so that the entire processing is performed. Speed is improved. Further, the optical sensors 107 and 108 and the magnetic sensor 109 shown in FIG.

In the first embodiment, the target image of the artificial retinal sensor camera 1 is the watermark pattern 102a. However, other parts may be used as long as the bill 102 can be discriminated. In this embodiment, the banknote 102 is discriminated. However, it is needless to say that discrimination according to the present invention can be performed if the banknote 102 has a symbol such as a watermark pattern 102a to be discriminated (for example, securities). No.

Embodiment 2 FIG. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional side view of a bill validator according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. In the first embodiment, the watermark pattern 102a is detected by the transmitted light from the light source 111, but the light source 111 is arranged on the same surface as the artificial retinal sensor camera 1 as shown in FIG.
1 irradiates the watermark pattern 102a with light and detects an image based on a difference in intensity of reflected light due to a difference in reflectance.
An effect equivalent to that of the first embodiment is achieved. Further, in the configuration of FIG. 4, since the light source 111 is arranged on the same surface as the artificial retinal sensor camera 1, for example, dust and dirt (not shown) attached to the belt 104 of the banknote 102 are not projected by the light source 111. Therefore, the discrimination accuracy is improved.

Embodiment 3 FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional side view of a bill validator according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. In the first embodiment, the watermark pattern 102a is detected based on the transmitted light from the light source 111. However, as shown in FIG. The same effect as in the first and second embodiments can be obtained even when the detection based on the intensity difference is used in combination.

Embodiment 4 FIG. FIG. 6 is a sectional side view of a bill validator according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention. In the first embodiment, the artificial retinal sensor camera 1 that detects the transmitted light of the watermark pattern 102a from the light source 111 does not include any means for blocking external light. However, as shown in FIG. A shielding box 15A that blocks external light except for the light receiving portion of the first lens 11 and a shielding box 15B that blocks external light except for the light emitting portion of the light source 111 may be provided, so that the influence of light entering from outside is removed. As a result, the SN ratio of the image detection signal from the retinal sensor camera 1 is improved, and the discrimination rate is improved.

Embodiment 5 FIG. FIG. 7 is a sectional side view of a bill validator according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention. In the fourth embodiment, the shielding boxes 15A, 15A when transmitting light are used.
B is shown, but as shown in FIG.
1 may be disposed on the same plane as the artificial retinal sensor camera 1, and a shielding box 15C that simultaneously shields the light source 111 and the artificial retinal sensor camera 1 from external light may be provided, and an effect equivalent to that of the fourth embodiment is obtained. .

Embodiment 6 FIG. FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing details of a signal flow of the bill validator according to Embodiment 6 of the present invention. The block diagram of the signal flow in the first embodiment is shown in FIG. 2, but as shown in FIG.
Of the belt 1 based on the discrimination result signal from the comparison circuit 21 of FIG.
For example, a banknote discriminating device that controls the driving of the transport mechanism 4 such as an electronic device 04 and controls the operation of an alarm device 5 such as an alarm buzzer and a lamp using the signal may be used. Play.

Embodiment 7 FIG. FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing details of the signal flow of the bill validator according to Embodiment 7 of the present invention. The block diagram of the signal flow in the first embodiment is shown in FIG. 2, but as shown in FIG.
Of the belt 1 based on the discrimination result signal from the comparison circuit 21 of FIG.
Drive control of the transport mechanism 4, such as an electronic device 04, and the detection signal of the watermark pattern, the authenticity determination result of the bill,
It may be a bill discriminating apparatus provided with a printing device 6 for printing information such as denominations and the total amount, and has the same effects as in the first embodiment.

[0036]

According to the present invention, a bill discriminating apparatus includes an imaging processing circuit provided on an artificial retinal chip facing a bill.
The watermark pattern of the bill is imaged and a video signal is output. An image conversion processing circuit detects the edge of the video signal and outputs an edge image of the watermark pattern. A knowledge processing circuit analyzes the edge image. Since the image data is output and the discrimination circuit determines the authenticity of the bill by collating the image data, the image recognition processing is dispersed and the processing speed is improved.

Further, according to the next invention, the bill discriminating apparatus is provided with a light emitting section on the opposite side of the face of the bill facing the artificial retinal chip, and the light from the light emitting section is used to form a watermark pattern by the artificial retinal chip. Since imaging is performed, there is an effect that the watermark pattern can be easily captured.

Further, according to the next invention, the bill discriminating apparatus is provided with a light emitting portion on the side of the bill facing the artificial retinal chip, and picks up an image of a watermark pattern by the artificial retinal chip by light from the light emitting portion. Therefore, the attached matter on the back surface of the bill is less likely to be projected, and there is an effect that the watermark pattern can be more easily imaged.

Further, according to the next invention, the bill discriminating apparatus is provided with a shielding means around the apparatus main body for shielding the intruding light from the outside, so that the S / N ratio of the video signal picked up by the image pickup processing circuit is reduced. This has the effect of improving the discrimination rate.

Further, according to the next invention, since the bill discriminating apparatus is provided with a shielding box for covering the periphery of the artificial retinal chip as the shielding means, there is an effect that external light can be blocked.

Further, according to the next invention, the bill discriminating apparatus is provided with a shielding box that covers the periphery of the light emitting section as the shielding means, so that there is an effect that external light can be blocked.

According to the next invention, the bill discriminating apparatus includes an alarm device that outputs a discrimination result of a bill to a discrimination circuit, inputs the discrimination result, and outputs an alarm when the discrimination result is a counterfeit bill. Since it is provided, there is an effect that the bill discrimination is more easily recognized.

Further, according to the next invention, the bill discriminating apparatus is provided with a printing device for causing the discrimination circuit to output the discrimination result of the bill and inputting and printing the discrimination result. This has the effect of making it easier.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional side view of a bill validator according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing details of a signal flow of the bill validator shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing details of functions of the retinal prosthesis chip shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional side view of a bill validator according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional side view of a bill validator according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a sectional side view of a bill validator according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a sectional side view of a bill discriminating apparatus according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing details of a signal flow of a bill validator according to Embodiment 6 of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing details of a signal flow of the bill validator according to Embodiment 7 of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram showing a conventional bill validator.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Artificial retinal sensor camera 12 Artificial retinal chip 12a Imaging processing circuit 12b Image conversion processing circuit 13 Knowledge processing circuit 2 Discrimination circuit 21 Comparison circuit 22 Denomination image data storage circuit 102 Banknote 102a Watermark 111 Light source 111a Power supply circuit 15A, 15B, 15C Shield box 5 Alarm device 6 Printing device

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An image processing circuit which faces a bill, images a watermark pattern of the bill and outputs a video signal, and an image conversion processing circuit which detects an edge of the video signal and outputs an edge image of the watermark pattern. And a knowledge processing circuit that analyzes the edge image and outputs image data, and a discrimination circuit that determines the authenticity of the bill by comparing the image data. Bill validator. 2. A light emitting unit is provided on a side opposite to a surface of the bill facing the artificial retinal chip, and a watermark pattern is imaged by the artificial retinal chip by light from the light emitting unit. Item banknote discriminating apparatus. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein a light emitting unit is provided on the side of the bill facing the artificial retinal chip, and the watermark pattern is imaged by the artificial retinal chip by light from the light emitting unit. Bill validator. 4. The apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: a shielding unit provided around the apparatus main body to shield external invading light.
Item 4. The bill discriminating apparatus according to any one of Items 3 to 3. 5. The bill discriminating apparatus according to claim 4, wherein a shielding box that covers the periphery of the artificial retinal chip is provided as the shielding means. 6. The bill discriminating apparatus according to claim 4, wherein a shielding box that covers the periphery of the light emitting unit is provided as the shielding means. 7. An alarm device for causing a discrimination circuit to output a discrimination result of a bill, inputting the discrimination result, and outputting an alarm when the discrimination result is a counterfeit bill. The bill discriminating apparatus according to the above. 8. The bill discriminating apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a printing device for causing the discriminating circuit to output a discrimination result of the bill, and for inputting and printing the discrimination result.